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SKETCH OF THE LIFE 



J - AUG- 5 
Copy- 1963 



ILLUSTRIOUS WASHINGTON, 



FIRST PRESIDENT 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



BY AN ENGLISH LADY. 

NEW-YORK : 

PRINTED BY WILLIAM MITCHELL, No. 265, BOWERY ; 
AND PUBLISlIBD BT THE PROFRIETOK, 

AT THE WASHINGTON DIVAN, 15T, BROADWAY. 



1834. 



-^ 1833 4^ 



No. 93-48 

LIBRARY 

OF THE 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 
Alcove, ..^'!./ili.c^.:L2.L-/.?. 



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Shelf,. ...!:_.'.jL.._13_.0. 



[Entered according to the Act of Congress, October 8th, 1834, by Andrew Maddocks, in the Office of 
the Clerk of the Southern District of New- York.] 



The materials of which this Memoir is composed, are 
selected from Public Documents, State Papers, and unpub- 
lished U.S. Letters of General Washington, which are 
preserved in the British Museum, London, and to which 
the Compiler has had access, through the excellent arrange- 
ments of that Institution, and the politeness and obliging 
attention of its Officers. 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE 



OF THE 



iTftst 3Presnient of t]\c mnitcti States of Stmettca. 



The Honourable George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the 
American forces, and first President of the United States of America, 
was born at Bridges Creek, in Virginia, on the 22d of February, in the 
year 1732. He was the son of Augustine Washington, and grandson 
of John Washington, of respectable connections in the north of England, 
who settled in America in 1657. 

Augustine, the father of our hero, died in 1743, leaving two daughters, 
and one son, Lawrence, by his first wife Jane Butler ; George was the 
eldest son, by his second marriage, with Mary Ball. In boyhood he 
displayed a great inclination for mathematical pursuits, every thmg he 
did was executed with method, exactness, and neatness : when only 
thirteen, he had filled thirty folio pages with copies of bills, receipts, and 
business transactions, which he headed ' Forms of Writing: In his 
manuscripts, which were found at Mount Vernon after his decease, was 
the following code of maxims, which, as it formed a foundation of the 
correct principles from which this great man never deviated in after life, 
and as they were penned at the same early period of his career, cannot 
fail to be read with admiration by the friends of this noble character. 



6 
••RULES OP CIVILITY AND DECENT BEHAVIOUR, 

IW 

COMPANY AND CONVERSATION. 



"1. Everj action in company ought to be with some sign of respect 
to those present. 

" 2. In the presence of others, smg not to yourself with a humming 
noise, nor drum with your fingers or feet. 

"3. Sleep not when others speak; sit not when others stand; speak 
not when you should hold your peace ; walk not when others stop. 

•' 4. Turn not your back to others, especially in speaking ; jog not the 
table .or desk, on which another reads or writes ; lean not on any one. 

" 5. Be no flatterer ; neither play with any one that delights not to 
be played with. 

" 6. Kead no letters, books, or papers, in company ; but when there is a 
necessity for doing it, you must ask leave. Come not near the books, 
or writings of any one, so as to read them, unless desired, nor give your 
opinion of them unasked ; also, look not nigh when another is writing a 
letter. " 

" 7. Let your countenance be pleasant, but, in serious matters, some- 
what grave. 

"8. Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, though he 
were your enemy. 

"9. When you meet with one of greater quality than yourself, stop 
and retire, especially if it be at a door, or any strait place, to give way 
for him to pass, 

" 10. They that are in dignity, or in office, have in all places 
precedency ; but whilst they are young, they ought to respect those that 
are their equals in birth, or other qualities, though they have no public 
charge. 

"11. It is good manners to prefer them to whom we speak before 
•ourselves, especially if they be above us, with whom in no sort we ought 
to begin. 

"'12. Let your discourse with men of business be short and compre- 
hensive. 

" 13 In visiting the sick, do not presently play the physician, if you 
be not knowing therein. 

" 14. In writing, or speaking, give to every person his due title, 
according to his degree and the custom of the place. 



" 15. Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit 
your judgment to others with modesty. 

" 16. Undertake not to teach your equal in the art himself professes ; 
it savours of arrogancy. 

" 17. When a man does all he can, though it succeeds not well, 
blame not him that did it. 

" 18. Being to advise, or reprehend any one, consider whether it 
ought to be in public or in private, presently or at some other time, in 
what terms to do it ; and in reproving, show no signs of choler, but do 
it with sweetness and mildness. 

" 19. Take all admonitions thankfully, in what time or place soever 
given ; but afterwards, not being culpable, take a time or place conve- 
nient to let him know it that gave them. 

" 20. Mock not, nor jest at any thing of importance ; break no jests 
that are sharp-biting — and if you deliver anything witty and pleasant, 
abstain from laughing thereat yourself. 

"21. Wherein you reprove another, be unblameable yourself; for 
example is more prevalent than precept. 

" 22. Use no reproachful language against any one, neither curse, 
nor revile. 

" 23. Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of 
any. 

" 24. In your apparel, be modest, and endeavour to accommodate 
nature, rather than to procure admiration ; keep to the fashion of your 
equals, such as are civil and orderly, with respect to times and places. 

" 25. Play not the peacock, looking every where about you to see if 
you be well decked, if your shoes fit well, if your stockings sit neatly, 
and clothes handsomely. 

" 26. Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is a sign 
of a tractable and commendable nature : and in all causes of passion, 
admit reason to govern. 

"27. Associate yourself of good quality, if you esteem your own 
reputation ; for it is better to be alone, than in bad company. 

" 28. Be not immodest in urging your friend to discover a secret. 

" 29. Utter not base and frivolous things amongst grave and learned 
men ; nor very difficult questions, or subjects, among the ignorant, nor 
things hard to be believed. 

• 30. Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth, nor at the table ; 
speak not of melancholy things, as death, and wounds ; and if others 
mention them, change, if you can, the discourse. Tell not your dreamsi 
but to your intimate friend. 



8 

*' 31. Break not a jest where none takes pleasure in mirth ; laugh not 
aloud, nor at all, without occasion. Deride no man's misfortune, though 
there seems to be some cause. 

*' 32, Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest ; scoff at 
none, although they give occasion. 

•' 33. Be not forward, but friendly and courteous ; the first to salute, 
hear, and answer ; and be not pensive when it is a time to converse. 

" 34. Detract not from others, neither be excessive in commending. 

" 35. Go not thither, where you know not whether you. shall be 
welcome or not. Give not advice without being asked, and when 
desired do it briefly. 

"36. If two contend together, take not the part of either unconstrained, 
and be not obstinate in your own opinion; in things indifferent, be 
of the major side. 

" 37. Reprehend not the imperfections of others, for that belongs to 
parents, masters and superiors. 

" 38. Gaze not on the marks or blemishes of others, and ask not how 
they came. What you may speak in secret to your friend, deliver not 
before others. 

" 39. Speak not in an unknown tongue in company, but in your own 
language, and as those of quality do, and not as the vulgar ; sublime 
matters treat seriously. 

" 40. Think before you speak, pronounce not imperfectly, nor bring 
out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly. 

" 41. When another speaks, be attentive yourself, and disturb not the 
audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not, nor prompt him 
without being desired; interrupt him not, nor answer him, till his speech 
be ended. 

" 42. Treat with men at fit times about business; and whisper not in 
the company of others. 

" 43. Make no comparisons ; — and if any of the company be com- 
mended for any brave act of virtue, commend not another for the same. 

" 44. Be not apt to relate news, if you know not the truth thereof. In 
discoursing of things you have heard, name not your author always. 
A secret discover not. 

"45. Be not curious to know the affairs of others, neither approach 
to those that speak in private. 

" 46. Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep 
your promise. 

"47. When you deliver a matter, do it without passion, and with 
discretion, however mean the person be you do it to. 



9 

"48. When your superiors talk to anybody, hearken not, neither 
speak, nor laugh. 

*' 49. In disputes be not so desirous to overcome, as not to give liberty 
to each one to deliver his opinion, and submit to the judgment of the 
major part, especially if they are judges of the dispute. 

" 50. Be not tedious in discourse, make not many digressions, nor 
repeat often the same manner of discourse. 

" 51. Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust. 

"52. Make no show of taking great delight in your victuals: feed 
not with greediness ; cut your bread with a knife ; lean not on the table ; 
neither find fault with what you eat. 

"53. Be not angry at table, whatever happens, and if you have rea- 
son to be so, show it not ; put on a cheerful countenance, especially if 
there be strapgers, for good humour makes one dish of meat a feast. 

" 54. Set not yourself at the upper end of the table ; but if it be your 
due, or that the master of the house will have it so, contend not, lest you 
should trouble the company. 

"55. When you speak of God, or his attributes, let it be seriously in 
reverence. Honour and obey your natural parents,'although they be poor. 

" 56. Let your recreations be manful, not sinful. 

" 57. Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celes- 
tial fire, called conscience." 

George Washington, at the age of fourteen, would have entered the 
navy, but that he yielded to the maternal persuasions of his mother, 
and in compliance with her wishes, turned his thoughts to the occupa- 
tion of a surveyor ; and, at sixteen, made a tour in that capacity throuo-h 
the Alleghany mountains. At that early period of his life, he evinced 
such nobleness of mind — so much real courage, firmness, and stability 
of conduct, that, at nineteen, he was chosen one of the adjutants-gene- 
ral of Virginia ; that province being then divided into four military 
districts ; he was stationed over the northern part of it, with the rank 
of major. 

Lawrence Washington had succeeded his father in the possession of 
Mount Vernon, and on him devolved the charge of the family. This 
gentleman entered the army early, and had served in the West Ind/es ; 
but ill health obliged him to quit the service, and he retired to JJlount 
Vernon : but as it was feared that consumptive symptoms wer^ advan- 
cing rapidly, he was advised to travel, and went first to England, but 
not finding the change beneficial, returned to Virginia. Still, growing 
worse, in 1751, he was prevailed upon to try a voyage to Barbadoes, to 

2 



10 

which place he was accompanied by his brother George, to whom he was 
affectionately attached. During their stay in Barbadoes, our hero was 
seized with small-pox — the violence of the disorder caused him a 
confinement of several weeks to the house. After his recovery, he 
returned to Virginia, whither he was soon followed by his brother, who 
lived but a very short time after his arrival, and died on the 26th of 
July, 1752. Not having any children, the estate of Mount Vernon became 
the property of Major Washington, who, in the following year, received 
an appointment to go as a commissioner over the Alleghany mountains, 
with authority from the governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, Esq., 
to investigate the conduct of the French, who were attempting great 
encroachments in those parts. This commission bore date l3th Octo- 
ber, 1753. At Fredericksburg, Washington engaged Jacob Vanbraam 
to be his interpreter, and thence proceeded on his dangerous errand, 
with proper credentials, and an official passport to guarantee his safety 
through the Indian territory. On the sixteenth of January the following 
year, Washington returned to Virginia ; having acquitted himself in 
the execution of his mission so entirely to the satisfaction of the gover- 
nor, that the latter promoted him to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and 
appointed him second in command in an expedition to the Ohio. At 
that time, an official correspondence was opened between the governor 
and Washington. At the same period, Dinwiddie issued a proclama- 
tion, which had for its object, to ensure a grant of two thousand acres 
of land, on the banks of the Ohio, to be divided among the officers and 
soldiers who should engage to serve in that expedition. 

Although this grant was confirmed by the King, the promised division 
was not effected until long after the termination of the war. Nor would it 
have taken place at all, but through the great exertions made by Wash- 
ington. The great purport of the expedition to the Ohio, was to con. 
struct forts to guard against the progress of the French, who were 
making daily encroachments in that quarter. Of the two companies 
over which Washington had the command, with the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel, one was to be raised by himself, the other by the Burgesses of 
Virginia. Previous to their leaving Alexandria, Washington, in a letter 
to Governor Dinwiddie, dated March 9th, 1765, states the necessity 
of having money to pay the men, " many of whom,^' he writes, " are 
withoia shoes, others want stockings ; some are without shirts, and, not a 
few, have scarce a coat or waistcoat to their backs — but I really believe 
every man of them, for their own credit's sake, is willing to be clothed at 
his own expense." He then advised that a part of the pay might be 



11 

retained for clothing ; but, on no account, to delay longer the sending 
a remittance. Other companies were added, and Colonel Fry had the 
command of the whole expedition. Washington continued to represent 
the wants of his men, who only received partial relief. The officers also 
were allowed only the fare of the privates, so that dissatisfaction be. 
came general ; and from Yonghiogany, Washington, in his correspond- 
ence with the Governor, bearing date 18th of May, wrote, that unless 
an alteration should be made respecting the officers, the latter would only 
hold their commissions, and tho4 gratuitously, until other officers arrive 
to supply their places ; for myself," he says, '-giving up my commission 
IS quite contranj to my intention ; nay, I ask it as a greater favour than 
any amongst the many I have received from your Honour, to confirm it 
to me. But, let me serve voluntarily: then I will, with the greatest plea- 
sure in life, devote my services to the expedition, without any other reioard 
than the satisfaction of serving my country ; but to slaving dangerously 
for the shadow of pay, through woods, rocks, mountains, I would rather 
prefer the great toil of a daily labourer, and dig for a maintenance, pro- 
vided I were reduced to the necessity, than serve upon such ignoble terms J^ 
On the death of Colonel Fry, which occurred at Will's Creek, Wash- 
ington, who had been second in authority succeeded to the command of the 
Virginia forces, and the rank of Colonel. The most formidable difficul- 
ties continued to annoy the army, and though the Colonel did not cease 
his representations to the Governor, the general grievances remained 
unremedied ; so that when in camp before Great Meadows/ where they 
had intelligence that reinforcements had reached the French at Fort 
Duquesne, and that they were preparing to attack the English, Wash- 
ington was aware that his men were in no fit condition to be conquerors, 
as they had neither bread — nor money — and had very little clothing. 
This great man never quailed at the face of danger — he summoned his 
officers, and after holding two councils of war, it was decided that the/ 
should retreat. Things were arranged in the best manner that circum- 
stances would admit. The total want of waggons, compelled the men 
to drag the baggage on swivels, in which labour they were no way 
aided by the men from the independent companies. At Great Meadows 
the army halted to recruit their strength, and whilst waiting a few 
days for that purpose, the fire of the French armv was heard at a dis- 
tance. Breastworks had been thrown up, — entrenchments made ; — in 
short, every precaution to preserve them from being surprised by the 
enemy, had been taken. The firing conJmued, and in the morning of 
the third cf July, the French were in sight. From eight that morning, 



12 

until eleven at night, a desperate battle ensued ; torrents of rain poured 
during the greatest part of the day ; the Virginia regiments fought 
bravely, until the French asked a parley. This was not granted in the 
first instance, as the Colonel suspected the oflTer might be a mere strata- 
gem, to obtain a sight of the interior state of the camp ; but, on a 
second proposal, accompanied by a desire that an officer should be sent 
to them, a parley was granted. Vanbraam, being the only officer who 
was at all acquainted with the French language, was sent, and he 
returned with articles of capitulation which were very favourable to 
Washington and his army. — These were signed by both parties at mid- 
night ; but when, the following day, the Colonel was about to act upon 
them, he met with obstacles, and discovered that Vanbraam had, through 
ignorance or design, rendered his interpretation different in some material 
parts from the original. The extraordinary talents of the future hero 
had already excited the envy of military commanders, and the result 
of Vanbraam's conduct was, for a time, injurious to the character of 
Washington. In the articles of capitulation was a sentence relating 
to the death of a French officer, Jumonville, who, with an escort of 
thirty men had gone out to reconnoitre the state of the enemj'-, and 
having met with a party of English and savages, a skirmish ensued, 
(the two parties then considering themselves in a state of warfare,) in 
which Jumonville and others were killed, and the rest of his men made 
prisoners. In requiring the liberty of those prisoners, the French had 
used the term assassination, which the interpreter rendered by the word 
death. This error formed a matter of accusation against this great 
man : but in August, the same year, the House of Burgesses having 
caused the articles to be laid before them, approved them, and also all 
the operations of the campaign ; and voted a message of thanks to 
Colonel Washington and his officers, for their bravery and conduct ; and 
fdded a gratuity to the privates. The Governor, Dinwiddle, also justi- 
fied the conduct of Colonel Washington, by official authority, which 
pronouriced that he had acted, in the case of Jumonville, agreeablj'- to 
his instructions, and in a manner worthy of praise. During this time, 
Dinwiddle failed to comply with an article in the treaty of capitulation 
by his detention of the French prisoners, for whose liberty they had 
stipulated ; a mode of proceeding that was averse to Washington's prin- 
ciples of honour and justice. 

In August^ the Governor issued orders for the army to proceed over 
he AUeghanies, to dispossesa the French of a fort they had constructed 
there. Washington combatted the measure, by stating the reasons of 



13 

its impracticability. Tiie want of money to recruit men — the want of 
provisions, and the lateness of the season. His reasoning prevailed, and 
the plan was given up. The Carolina troops, for the pay of which a 
particular sum had been appropriated, finding the fund was exhausted, 
disbanded themselves, and returned home. 

At this period, Dinwiddle received money for the enlargement of the 
army, upon which he formed arrangements that he tried to impose on 
the army as the result of official orders ; and by which he had in view 
to throw out the higher officers. He reduced the Virginia regiments 
into independent companies, that there might not be any officer to rank 
higher than a Captain. As it would have been dishonourable for 
Washington to have continued under such circumstances, he resigned, 
and retired to Mount Vernon. But shortly after, a due sense of the 
value of his services, caused Governor Sharpe, who received his 
Majesty's commission to act as Commander-in-Chief of the forces against 
the French, to desire Colonel Fitzhugh to write his wishes that Wash- 
ington would return to the army. The latter, in his reply, dated 15th 
Nov. 1754, explained his motives for declining to accept the request; and 
then added : *' / shall have the consolation of knoxoing, that I have opened 
the way, lohen the smallness of our numbers exposed us to the attacks of a 
superior enemy; thai I have hitherto stood the heat and brunt of the day, and 
escaped untouched, in time of extreme danger ; and that I have the thanks 
of my country for the services I have rendered it." 

That Dinwiddie had acted only from his selfish, contracted ideas, is 
proved by the copy of a letter, in his own letter-book, dated 25th of 
October, 1764, in which he says to Earl Halifax : " As there have been 
some disputes between the regulars and the officers appointed by me, I 
am now determined to reduce our regiment into independent companies, 
30 that from our forces there will be no other distinguished officer above 
a captain."* 

Governor Dinwiddie had, for some months back been urging the En- 
glish Parliament lo impose a poll-tax of 2s.6d. per head : he now renewed 
his favourite recommendation, and concluded his letter by observing, " I 
know of no method to compel the colonists to their duty to the King, but 
that." From this mode of acting, the Governor gave to England false 
notions of the temper, character, and feelings of the Americans, and led 
the council to act on false principles; besides creating bitterness and 
dissatisfaction among the colonists. 



* The new military arrangements were issued by tiie Governor in October, ITSI. The general ordeta 
only came with Major Braddock, and were dpted St. James's, 15th of November, the same year. 



14 

General Braddock arrived in Virginia, on the 20th of February, 1765, 
bearing the rank of Commander-in-Chief of all the military forces in North 
America. He also brought the King's orders of the 12th November, 
by which the general and field-officers of provincial troops, were not to 
have rank with the general and field-officers under the King's commis- 
sion ; — also, that all captains, and other inferior officers, of the regulars, 
were to take post of the former, in court-martials, and on all occasions^ 
where their joint duty called them. 

Washington was living at Mount Vernon. General Braddock, who 
well knew the importance of his services, and convinced that his 
honourable feelings would not allow of the oflfer of a commission under 
the humiliating terms of the King's general orders, desired his aide-de- 
camp, Mr. Orme, to invite Colonel Washington to make one of General 
Braddock's family during the campaign. The latter accepted the offer, 
on the ground of serving as a volunteer, giving, as his reasons, that he 
was desirous of acquiring military knowledge under an able commander, 
and he was glad to engage himself gratuitously in the service of his 
country. 

On the 10th of May, General Braddock read in the general orders, 
his appointment of Mr. Washington to be one of his aides-de-camp, a 
post that was particularly agreeable to the latter, "because,^^ as he 
afterwards stated to his brother, " I am thereby freed from all commands 
but his, and shall give his orders, which must be implicitly/ obeyed." ■ 

Our hero left Mount Vernon in April, to join the expedition intended 
for the Ohio. A violent attack of fever delayed him some weeks, and 
he was in a state of great debility when he joined the advanced division 
of the army. Such was the supineness of the provincial governors, that 
they neglected to support the cause by supplying the wants of the army. 
The Pennsylvanians were the most backward ; nor could waggons have 
been obtained, but that Benjamin Franklin, who was postwtaster-general 
of that province, procured one hundred and fifty waggorw, with a propor- 
tionate number of horses, on his own individual .security. General 
Braddock, in his letters, blamed the lukewarnviess of public feeling, 
which caused so many obstacles to be thrjwn in the way of the 
enterprize; he blamed, and justly, the dishonesty of agents, and the 
faithlessness of contractors ; still he looked with certainty to conquer. 
So general was this impression, that in many places_ subscriptions were 
entered into, for raising money to celebrate his victory. On the way to 
Fort Duquesne, several councils of war were held, and at length 
Washington's advice, to leave the waggons and proceed with the 



15 

necessaries on the horses, was followed, as the slow manner in which 
they got forward, was sure to give advantages to the French. Within 
ten miles of the fort, and on the banks of the Monongahela, when 
passing near a vast wood, a fire from the French army commenced 
upon the advanced division, who returned it at random, and with very 
little effect ; the enemy, concealed and protected by the trees, continued 
to pour upon them a heavy discharge of musketry, and before the 
general could reach the spot, the advanced division fell back on the 
artillery, and the other columns of the army, and caused a panic which 
no efforts could recover. The general, and the officers, used the utmost 
exertions that bravery and courage could suggest ; their example failed 
to rally the men, and they were sacrificed to the confusion and disorder 
that prevailed. General Braddock had five horses shot under him, and 
at last received a mortal wound, of which he died during the night of 
the 13th. Washington had two horses killed under him, and received 
four bullets in his clothes, yet remained uninjured ; and was the only 
surviving officer of that disastrous day, whom Providence preserved 
unhurt. Often, in his after life, did he describe the pleasure with which 
he saw the display of the army on the morning of the 9th of July. 
The men in health and spirits — their arms glittering under a bright sun ; 
butthese, having crossed the river in safety, in less than four hours after, 
more than half their number were killed, or wounded. Of all the army, 
the Virginia troops alone retained their senses ; they acted as men. 
" J5ttf," said Washington, in a letter which he addressed to Governor 
Dinwiddie after the battle, ''the dastardly regular troops (so called) 
exposed those who were inclined to do their duti/, to almost certain death ; 
and, at length, in spite of every effort to the contrary, they broke, and ran 
as sheep before hounds, leaving the artillery, ammunition, provisions, 
baggage, and, in short, every thing to the enemy. 

" It is supposed that we had three hundred or more killed, and about that 
number were brought off wounded. It is conjectured (I believe with much 
truth) that two-thirds of bothreceived their shot from our own cowardly regu- 
lars, who gathered themselves into a body, contrary to orders, ten or twelve 
deep — would then level, fire, and shoot down the men before them." 

Strange as the fate of that battle seemed at the time it happened, a 
consideration of the circumstances has cleared much of its mystery ; the 
General showed great warmth and intemperance of language, at the 
disappointments he met with : he was ignorant of the mode of attack, 
yet neglected to send scouts to reconnoitre the position of the enemy . 
then he trusted too much on the veterans under his command, which 



16 

caused him not to regard advice ; and though he acted with the greatest 
bravery and spirit, he became himself, with numbers of his army, the 
victim of his self-confidence. 

So high was the character of Washington's military conduct, that 
the Reverend Mr. Davies, when preaching a sermon in Hanover county, 
taking occasion to applaud patriotism and military zeal, said : — "As a 
remarkable instance of this, I may point out to the public, that heroic 
youth, Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope, Providence has 
hitherto preserved in so signal a manner, for some important service to 
his country." 

Colonel Washington returned to Mount Vernon, on the 26th July ; 
his reflective mind fitted him for the enjoyment of rural pursuits ; but 
his prominent passion inclined him to a military life. When the rumour 
reached him that the assembly at Virginia was desirous that he should 
take the command of their forces, he expressed his opinion respecting 
the great and numerous obstacles that would attend such a command : 
and, at the same time, that he declared his willingness to give his exer- 
tions to his country, he also declared his determination, not to accept 
the office, but, upon certain conditions, which his late experience had 
taught him to consider necessary. These being stated, were complied 
with ; and the appointment of Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia 
forces, dated 14th of August, 1756, was immediately forwarded to him. 
On that occasion. Governor Dinwiddle addressed a letter to Sir Thomas 
Robinson, Secretary of State, in which he said; — 

" I have granted commission to raise sixteen companies, augmenting 
our forces to one thousand men, and have incorporated them into 
a regiment, the command thereof being given to Colonel George 
Washington, who was one of General Braddock's aides-de-camp, and, 
I think, a man of great merit and resolution. Our officers are greatly 
dispirited for want of his Majesty's commissions, that, when they join 
the regulars, they may have some rank ; and I am persuaded it would 
be of infinite service, if his Majesty would graciously please to honour 
them with his commissions, the same as in General Shirley's, and Sir 
William Pepperell's regiments; and I am convinced, if General 
Braddock had survived, he would have recommended Mr. Washington 
to the royal favour, which I beg your interest in recommending." 

Washington proceeded to take the command of the troops, which he did 
at Fort Cumberland, and went on to Alexandria, where he arrived 2d 
October. A few days later, he informs the Governor of the want of 
necessary articles, and requests a supply of money to pay the men : also, 



17 

points the positive necessity of putting; the men under regulation, and 
enforcing obedience. Continuing that subject, he says, " The men desert 
for the least reprimand ; no orders are obeyed, but such as a party of 
soldiers, or my own drawn sword enforces. Without this, not a single 
horse can be had — to such a pitch has the insolence of these people arrived, 
by having every point hitherto submitted to them. Why should it be 
expected from us, who are all young and inexperienced, to govern and 
keep up a proper spirit of discipline without laws, when the best and most 
experienced tan scarcely do it with them ? I can confidently assert, thai 
recruiting, clothing, arming, maintaining, and subsisting soldiers, who 
have since deserted, have cost the country an immense sum, which might 
have been prevented, were we under restraints that would terrify the 
soldiers from such practices^ He was in great want of an active com- 
missary; in short, every letter contained a repetition of the same 
deficiencies, as nothing whatever was done. The officers employed to 
recruit, amused themselves, trifling away their time without taking the 
needful trouble ; in short, no one but Washington, whose patient 
forbearance was remarkable, could have continued in his hopeless office. 
He, however, with a magnanimity of mind, that was the more admirable 
as it was rare, continued to labour for his country with unrelaxed 
perseverance. Head-quarters were fixed at Winchester ; there, the 
inhabitants were harassed and murdered by parties of French and 
Indians ; meanwhile, no representations could induce the Governor to 
send men, and Washington could not obtain recruits. Whatever might 
have been the state of public opinion, the officers showed no zeal what- 
ever in the cause ; and their gross misconduct, in gambling, drinking, 
and swearing, drew upon them the displeasure of the House of Burgesses, 
and unjust censure on their commander : — unjust, because his power 
was limited. He was expected to exercise strict discipline, yet he could 
neither reward nor punish, without waiting for orders from the Governor ; 
so that he wrote to him, in a letter dated 22d April, 1766, " The me- 
lancholy situation of the people, the little prospect of assistance, the gross 
and scandalous abuses cast upon the officers in general, which is reflecting 
upon me, in particular, for suffering misconduct of such extraordinary 
kinds, and the distant prospect, if any, of gairiing honour and reputa- 
tion in the service, cause me to lament the hour that gave me a commission, 
and would induce me, at any other time than this of imminent danger, to 
resign, without one hesitating moment, a command from which I never 
eccpect to reap either hoiiour or benefit ; but, on the contrary, Jtavc almost 
an absolute certainty of incurring displeasure below, while the murder of 

3 



18 

helpless families may be laid to my atcount here." The Governor ordered 
out a great part of the militia, upon which one of the council, Colonel 
Fairfax, wrote as follows toWashington : — "The House of Burgesses are 
pleased with the Governor's orders, and depend on your vigilance and 
success. Your endeavours in the service, and defence of your country, 
must redound to your honour ; therefore, do not let any unavoidable 
interruptions sicken your mind in the attempts you may pursue. Your 
good health and fortune are the toast at every table. Among the 
Romans, such a general acclamation and public regard shown to any 
of their chieftains, were always esteemed a high honour, and gratefully 
accepted." Still kept ignorant of any positive intentions, or plan, 
Washington ventured his own suggestions to the Governor, regarding 
the means of defending the frontiers. "I have been formerly,^'' he wrote, 
" and am at present, pretty full in offering my opinion and counsel on 
matters which regard the public safety and interest. These have been 
solely the objects of all my thoughts, words, ajid actions ; and^ in order 
to avoid censure in every part of my conduct, I make it a rule to obey the 
dictates of your honour^ the assembly ^ and a good conscience. I shall not 
hereafter trouble you further on these topics, as I can add nothing to 
what I have said.''^ However, in his next letter to the Governor (3d |^ay,) 
he says : "7 must again beg leave to desire your particular instructions 
and information, as being in a state of uncertainty, without knowing the 
plan of operations ; / am much embarrassed, and left to guess at every 
thing. So much am I kept in the dark, that I do not know whether to 
prepare for the offensive or defensive." 

In the beginning of January, 1756, Washington proved his determi- 
nation to enforce regular discipline, by bringing one of the officers under 
court-martial, which condemned him to be suspended. The Colonel 
took that opportunity, when reading the sentence at the head of the 
army, to give the men some salutary instruction and advice, which he 
concluded in the following words : — 

"/ think it my duty, gentlemen, as I have the honour to preside over 
you, to give this friendly admonition ; especially, since I am determined, 
as far as my small experience, my abilities, and interest in the service 
may dictate, to observe the strictest discipline. On the other hand, you 
may as certainly depend upon having rigid justice administered to all, 
and that I shall make it the most agreeable part of my duty to study merit, 
and reward the brave and deserving. I assure you, gentlemen, that 
partiality shall never bias my conduct, nor shall prejudice injure any ; 
but, throughout the whole tenour of my proceedings, I shall endeavour, as 



19 

far as I am able, to reward and punish, without the least departure from 
equity.''^ 

On 14th January, the Colonel requested of the Governor to acquaint 
him, whether it was intended to take the field in the spring, or that the 
troops were to guard the frontiers ? At this time Washington met with 
opposition in the command by Captain Day worthy, at the instigation of 
Governor Sharpe. The Colonel wished this matter settled, as he 
observed to Dinwiddie, that " contention is the root of evil, and de- 
structive to the best operations." Having obtained permission from the 
latter, Washington went to Boston, to present his memorial to Mr. 
Shirley, leaving the direction of the army to Lieutenant-Colonel 
Stephen. He was every where well received, gained the point on which 
he went, and returned to the army 23d March ; and to head-quarters at 
Winchester, on 6th April. There he found the inhabitants in great 
alarm from the Indians, who committed great and continual depreda- 
tions, frequently accompanied by murder of the most cruel kind. Colonel 
Washington, in a letter to Mr. Robinson, speaker and treasurer of the 
House of Burgesses, which he wrote in August, 1756, mentioned the 
useless expense of keeping Fort Cumberland as a military store, which 
could not resist a single half-pounder, and he recommended Cox's Fort 
as preferable. In Mr. Robinson's reply, he informs Washington, that 
the committee all agree in opinion with him ; but on naming it to the 
Governor, the latter was very warm, and refused to remove the garrison, 
or order the fort to be demolished. In the above letter, Washington stated 
the just causes that the soldiers had for complaint — the mode of pay- 
ment, and the smallness of it, as they received less than any other of 
the troops, many of whom had English pay. 

Again, in September, the Colonel repeats the danger of Fort Cum- 
berland being attacked, and that its weakness required immediate 
fortification. " The inhabitants,^^ he added, ''are so annoyed b'y frequent 
incursions of the enemy, from whom they hcsve suffered most severely, that 
the environs are deserted ; numbers have left the frontiers for fifty miles 
rounds 

At the same period, Washington wrote his impartial opinion of the 
state of things to the Governor, and urged the necessity of an addition of 
men, for the protection of those parts. Of the militia, he wrote : " they 
are obstinate, self-toilled, and perverse ; of little or no service to the inhabit- 
ants, and very burdensome to the country.''^ The conduct of those men 
was, individually, gross, insulting, and wantonly unjust; yet, when 
the Colonel stated these facts to the Governor, the latter was offended, 
called Washington's descriptions unmannerly, and treated the man, who 



20 

was labouring with excessive zeal for his country's benefit, as though 
he had been actuated by some unworthy and sinister intention. He per- 
sisted in keeping Fort Cumberland, and did what with that determination 
he should have done long before : ordered fortifications to be raised for its 
defence. Regardless of the fate of the people, he desired Washington to 
draw his men from Winchester, and proceed without delay to Fort Cum- 
berland, to expedite the works there ; thus acting like one, who had de- 
termined in order to preserve a point, the situation of which was ill-suited 
to the purpose, to leave that part of the country an open passage for the 
enemy. Such conduct appeared to Washington inexplicable ; and he 
observed, in a letter to an intimate friend, " JMy orders are dark, doubtful, 
and uncertain ; to-day approved : to-morrow condemned. We are either in- 
sensible of danger till it breaks vpon our heads; or, through mistaken notions 
of economy, evade the expense till the bloio is struck.'^ 

In December 1756, the Colonel's statements having remained unno- 
ticed, and Lord Loudon being expected to take command of the King's 
forces, Washington wrote to the Governor for more explicit orders — and 
received intimation, that it was Lord Loudon's determination to keep 
Fort Cumberland ; and the stores were removed thither from Winchester. 
As his Lordship had never been in Virginia, it was evident that his 
decision was regulated by the representations of Dinwiddle ; it is not, 
therefore, extraordinary, that the prejudice of one, acting with the igno- 
rance of the other, should produce the very worst results. Mr. Robin- 
son saw clearly the misconception of circumstances ; he regretted the 
infatuated notion of keeping up Fort Cumberland ; and, in his next letter 
to Colonel Washington, made the following observation : — 

" The present unhappy state of our country, must fill the mind of every 
well-wisher to it with dismal and gloomy apprehensions ; and without 
some speedy alterations in our counsels, which may God send, the fate 
of it must soon be determined." 

In the beginning of 1757, it became known that Dinwiddle was to 
return home, and would be succeeded by Lord Loudon, as Governor of 
Virginia. Washington, on receiving the intelligence, proposed going 
there to facilitate the settling their accompts, but this oifer was refused ; 
— in short, during the period of, his government, Dinwiddie had not 
failed to harass and distress Washington, and to frustrate his plans; a 
meanness of conduct, that could only be accounted for by those who 
knew that the Governor had experienced a great disappointment, 
when the House of Assembly elected Washington to have the command 
of their troops, he having intended that office for his friend and coun- 
tryman, Colonel Innes. 



21 

Lord Loudon having come to Virginia, Colonel Washington addressed 
him a letter in 1757, in which he drew a statement of facts relating to 
the arm J from the lime he first accompanied it to the Ohio in 1754. In 
that campaign, he observed, the men encountered various inconveniences 
of hunger and nakedness — circumstances that were likely to excite 
general discontent — caused frequent desertion, and operated as a pre- 
ventive to the business of enlistment; and the Colonel concluded his 
statement in the following words : "TAe orders I receive are full of amhi- 
guity — / am lefl^ like a loandercr in the toilderness, to proceed at hazard. 
I am answerable for consequences^ and am blamed without the privilege of 
defence.'''' 

The last letter that Washington addressed to Dinwiddie, was dated 
5th of November, 1757. In that he recapitulated the grievances endu- 
red by the army, by the continued neglect they had experienced from 
the commencement of its operations ; in reply to which, the Governor 
treated his statement with contemptuous silence; mentioned the ingrati- 
tude shown to him from the Colonel ; and having observed that he was 
on the eve of resigning his office, coldly hoped that his successor might 
treat him with equal kindness. From the tenour of the correspondence, 
it was clear that Dinwiddie had listened to the fabrications which the 
enemies to their country had raised against that great and noble-minded 
man. At this time, Washington was labouring under serious indispo- 
sition, which so increased upon him, that he was compelled, by the 
advice of Dr. Craik, to remove to Mount Vernon. Previous, however, 
to his doing so, it having become certain that false representations re- 
specting Washington's conduct and intentions, had been stated to the 
Governor, he addressed Dinwiddie in vindication; and requested to 
know the author of those reports. To this he received only a vague 
and unsatisfactory answer. Dinwiddie sailed for England, in January, 
1758. On the Colonel's return to the army, in April, after a necessary 
absence of four months, he found things much in the state as when he 
left it ; and resolved, within himself, to quit it at the close of that cam- 
paign. Still, bent on making every effort in his power — and finding it 
was fixed they should proceed to the Ohio, to dispossess the French of 
certain forts they had erected, he went to hold an interview with Colonel 
Bouquet, and concert with him the best mode of conducting the army 
thither. But, finding him fixed to lead them a new road, which was yet 
to be cut, Washington declared his opinion that it would ruin the enter- 
prise. He also objected to the proposed division of the army on their 
march. 



22 

On the 1st of September, 1758, Colonel Washington observed in a 
letter to Mr. Robinson, Speaker, " That appearance of glory, which we 
had once in view ; that hope, that laudable ambition of serving our coun- 
try, and meriting its applause, are now no more. All is dioindled into 
ease, sloth, and fatal inactivity. In a word, all is lost, if the ways of men 
in power, like certain ways of Providence, are not inscrutable. • 
***** Yet, every fool will have his notions, will 

prattle and talk away ; and why may not 1 1 We seem, then, in my 
opinion, to act under the guidance of an evil genius. The conduct of our 
leaders, if not actuated by superior orders, is tempered with something, I 
do not care to give a name to. Nothing now but a miracle can bring 
this campaign to a happy issue. " 

In allusion to his advice, respecting the road not having been attended 
to, Washington tells the Speaker what might have been expected, had 
they proceeded as he had wished, with expedition. "iVow," he continued, 
" behold how the golden opportunity has been lost; perhaps, never more to 
be regained! How is it to be accounted for ? Can General Forbes have 
orders for this ? — Impossible. Will, then, our injured country pass by 
such abuses? I hope not. Rather let a full representation of the matter 
go to his Majesty. Let him know how grossly his glory, and interest, 
and the public money, have been prostituted." 

In October, the same year. Colonel Washington wrote from the camp 
at Raystown, to General Forbes, who had the command of his Majesty's 
forces employed on the Ohio expedition, to acquaint him with a plan he 
had formed respecting a line of march for the army ; and at the end of 
that month he was in advance, with a division of the main army, that 
was appointed to open the road. A council of war being held at Loyal- 
Hanna, it was declared not advisable to proceed further that season ; but 
this declararation yielded shortly after to a change of opinion, and the 
original enterprise was prosecuted. On leaving Loyal-Hanna, the com- 
mand of a brigade was given to Washington, and the King's troops 
succeeded in getting possession of Fort Duquesne on the 25th Novem- 
ber ; but seeing, that all his advice was unheeded, and that his efforts 
to preserve his country in an honourable independence, were frustrated 
by the divided interest of various parties, Washington resolved to with- 
draw from the army at the close- of that campaign. Following the 
dictates of his noble and generous principles, he would not omit a single 
■opportunity of letting the Governor of Virginia know the state of the 
troops, and on the 2d of December, on their return to Loyal-Hanna, on 
the way to winter-quarters, he wrote to the Governor as follows: 



23 

" Unless effectual means shall be taken early in the springy to reinforce 
the garrison left at Fort Duquesne, the place will be lost ; and if the 
firstVirginia regiment is to be kept up any longer^ the men must he clothed, 
as sickness, deaths and desertion, must greatly reduce their numbers, if 
left longer unsuppliedJ' 

On the arrival of the army at Winchester, the latter end of December, 
1758, Washington resigned his commission — a circumstance that was. 
much regretted by the officers. 

On the 6th of January, 1759, Colonel Washington married Martha 
Custis, widow of Daniel Parke Custis, and daughter of John Dandridge. 
She was a fine personable woman, well educated, and pleasing in her 
manners, and possessed a good fortune. During the preceding year, 
Mr. Washington had been elected a member of the House of Burgesses 
of Virginia. On his joining the Assembly, their Speaker, Mr. Robinson, 
in compliance with their order, returned the public thanks of the House 
to Mr. Washington, for his high military conduct ; and this he did with 
a warmth of feeling that quite confounded the hero, and he blushed, 
unable to reply ; upon which, Mr. Robinson said, " Sit down, Mr. Wash- 
ington, your modesty is equal to your valour, and that surpasses the 
power of any language that I possess." ' 

The time immediately succeeding Washington's marriage was a 
period of general dissatisfaction through the colonies, towards which 
the parent country had evinced a disposition to tyrannize, by an attempt 
in the English Parliament, in March, 1764, to levy a revenue by a stamp 
tax ; which being communicated to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 
they appointed a committee to prepare a petition to the King, a memo- 
rial to the Lords, and a remonstrance to the Commons. These papers 
showed the legal exemption of the colonies from taxation, on the grounds 
of non-representation ; and were couched in respectful language, firm, but 
free from any indication of violence. The application proved useless ; 
the stamp act passed in January, the following year. The intelligence 
was received in America with consternation and regret. Patrick Henry, 
a member of the Courts of Justice in Virginia, whose superior talents 
raised him to the principal seat in the committee, on one occasion, when 
descanting on the obnoxious act, exclaimed, in a voice of thunder, and 
the look of a God, " Caesar had his Brutus — Charles the First his Crom- 
well — and George the Third" — ' Treason !' cried the Speaker, 'Treason, 
treason !' echoed from every part of the house. Henry, rising to a 
loftier attitude, finished his sentence with the firmest emphasis, "may 
profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.'* 



24 

The stamp act was repealed in 1766, but the joy thus diffused, was 
of short duration ; as in 1767, a motion passed, that the revenues in 
America, should be applied to provide the troops then there, and others, 
which it was the intention of government to send. , 

After the King's rejection of petitions from the Colonies, a tumult 
broke out at Boston, on the seizure of the sloop Liberty, by the Collec- 
tor and Comptroller of Customs ; they acting in an improper manner. 
British troops marched into Boston, with great parade and pomp ; being 
refused quarters by the inhabitants, they took possession of the State 
House, and placed two field-pieces in its front. 

Washington, who was a member of the legislature, was the person 
towards whom the friends to America looked for assistance in times of 
difficulty — his known patriotism, tried courage, and steady rectitude of 
conduct, made him to be considered worthy of the utmost confidence — 
he had in the year, 1769, thus expressed his political opinion in a letter 
to his friend and neighbour, Mr. George Mason : " At a time when our 
lordly masters in Great Britain will be satisfied with nothing less than 
the deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly necessary that 
something should be done to avert the stroke, and maintain the liberty 
which we have derived from our ancestors. But, the manner of doing 
it, to answer the purpose effectually, is the point in question. That no 
man should scruple, or hesitate a moment, to use arms in defence of so 
valuable a blessing, is clearly my opinion. Yet arms, I would beg 
leave to add, should be the last resource, the dernier resort. We have 
already, it is said, proved the inefficacy of addresses to the throne, and 
remonstrances to parliament. How far, then, their attention to our 
rights and privileges is to be awakened, or alarmed, by starving their 
trade and manufactures, remains to be tried." 

The plan pointed out in the above letter became a subject of general 
consideration — the mode of doing it was drawn out by Mr. Mason, and 
explained by Washington to many of their friends. The non-importa- 
tion act was brought forward, and immediately passed. The matter was 
brought to a crisis in 1774, on the arrival of tea in the port of Boston, 
which the people firmly refused to receive. Upon this, the captain of 
the vessel asked the Governor for a clearance to return. The Governor 
refused, and the people emptied the tea into the ocean. The English 
Parliament voted that the custom-house, with its dependencies, should 
be moved from Boston to Salem. 

When it was made known to the assembly of Burgesses in Virginia, 
that an order had arrived t» close the port at Boston, from the first of 



2S 

June, thejr passed an order to keep that day a solemn fast. In 
Washington's diary for the year 1774, is the following remark : — *' June 
1st, Wednesday, went to church, and fasted all the dayP At this time a 
discovery was effected through Mr. Benjamin Franklin, that a corres- 
pondence was kept up between Gorernor Hutchinson, Lieutenant 
Governor Oliver, and a part of the English ministry, for the purpose 
of inducing government to continue its arbitrary measures towards 
America. Franklin obtained copies of those letters, and sent them to 
the general court. In consequence of the event at Boston, the inhabit- 
ants, in many parts of the colonies assembled, to discuss, and to settle a 
mode of conduct, for the protection of their rights. Washington 
presided as chairman in the meeting at Fairfax, 18th of July, when a 
resolution passed for appointing delegates from the different colonies, to 
meet in Congress at Philadelphia, in the first week of September, 1774. 
Washington was named to be one of the committee, and at the rising of 
that assembly in October, was declared to have acted with the soundest 
judgment, and to have imparted the most important information of any 
person there. His habits through life, his gentlemanly deportment, and 
the plain candid manner in which he delivered his sentiments, having 
obtained him a welcome reception into the best society, fitted him for 
places of high trust and national confidence. The Virginia independent 
companies chose Washington as their leader, so that in April, 1775, 
when Lord Dunmore removed the powder from the magazine at 
Williamsburgh, and that the people opposed him, by the advice of Patrick 
Henry, and placed themselves under arms, they waited for the orders of 
their commander, Washington. 

It was evidently the intention of Lord Dunmore, General Gage, and 
others then in power, to subjugate the colony ; on which account the 
powder stores were every where seized, under pretence of danger, by 
leaving them in the hands of the dissatisfied party. During the second 
sitting of the continental congress at Philadelphia, in May, 1776, a 
skirmish had taken place between the King's soldiers and the provincial 
troops, and which proved favourable to the latter. Hostilities having 
commenced, it became highly necessary to form arrangements in defence 
of the rights and liberties of America. Enough had been proved of 
Washington's military talents to distinguish him as the soldier of 
America; and, on the 14th of June, 1775, all local jealousies having 
yielded to the enthusiasm of the time, and the policy of able advisers, 
Washington was chosen General and Commander-in-Chief of the armies 
of the United Colonies. The commission was in the names of the 

4 



26 

delegates of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island^ 
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania ; the counties of 
Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware ; Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina, and South Carolina ; and couched in the following 
strong terms : " To George^ Washington, Esq. We, reposing special 
trust and confidence in your patriotism, valour, conduct, and fidelity, 
do, by these presents constitute and appoint you to be General and 
Commander-in-Chief of the army of the United Colonies, and of all the 
forces now raised, or to be raised by them, and of all others who shall 
voluntarily offer their service, and join the said army for the defence of 
American liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof: and 
you are hereby invested with full power and authority to act as you 
shall think for the good and welfare of the service, * * * 
&c." At the same time a resolution passed, declaring *' Congress would 
maintain, assist, and adhere to him, as the Commander, for the mainte- 
nance and preservation of American liberty, with their lives and fortunes" 
On accepting this arduous office, Washington declined any compen- 
sation for his services ; and said, he would keep a correct account of his 
expenses, which he should rely on Congress to discharge. The States 
sent addresses expressive of their approbation ; but that from New- York 
evinced a degree of jealousy, as though they feared his personal attach- 
ment to power. 

The well-known disadvantages that General Washington was 
about to encounter, in his undertaking of Commander-in-Chief of the 
American forces, in the war with England, were numerous, and such as 
would have appalled any other than a virtuous and true patriot — such 
as deficiency of clothing — of tents needful for an encampment — of 
ammunition — of engineers — and the monstrous inconvenience of re- 
ceiving army supplies through various agents, not having a commissary 
general ; add to these the want of discipline and subordination, without 
the practice of which it was impossible to expect success ; yet the lesson 
was to be taught in the face of the enemy — an undertaking of infinite 
importance, yet one positively necessary towards obtaining the end 
desired. The independence of the States was declared on the 4th of 
July, and Washington lost no time in setting out to head the army,, 
which he found so deficient in many respects, that having summoned 
a council of war, it was resolved to act on the defensive : and, as the 
command would be much mixed with the civil authoritj^ Washington 
solicited that a committee might be appointed by Congress to consult 
with the Commander-in-Chief, and with the magistrates of the several 



27 

provinces, respecting the most effectual mode to be adopted in providing 
for and regulating the continental troops. On the arrival of Lord and 
Sir William Howe, before New- York, the former issued a circular to 
the respective Governors, announcing themselves to be commissioners 
delegated with authority to settle the late differences, and offering the 
royal pardon to the late rebels who would return to their duty. 

Aware of the great inferiority in numbers of the American army, 
Washington, to rouse national energy, in his orders on the second of 
August, said : " The time is near at hand, which must determine 
whether Americans are to be freemen, or slaves; our cruel and 
unrelenting enemy has left us only the choice of a brave resistance, or 
the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to conquer or die." 

The efforts of Washington to stimulate his soldiers, and his personal 
exertions to prevent the enemy from getting possession of New- York, 
were incessant. In the commencement of the campaign of 1776, some 
skirmishing took place, in which the Americans were not wholly 
unsuccessful ; but the smallness of their numbers, and the various 
difficulties they laboured under, rendered it imprudent to hazard a battle. 
In September, the Commander-in-Chief expostulated in his letters to 
Congress, on the necessity of raising a permanent army, to act, at least, 
during the war. The period of dissolving the militia would be one of 
dread to the real lovers of freedom, " who cannot," the patriot continued, 
"but anticipate the most fatal results to their country, should it depend 
solely upon a militia, v/ho were only hired for a certain period ;" — and 
he urged every means he could suggest, to induce Congress to adopt such 
measures as were most likely to ensure their cause. No one ever laboured 
so unremittingly, so zealously, to plant the tree of freedom so deep, that 
its growth should prosper as the natural produce of the soil ; but these 
efforts of the noble Washington were, at that time, fruitless ! — and the 
British troops took possession of the city of New- York in September, 
On that occasion, the disaffected received the English soldiers with 
pleasure. The Howes issued proclamations to prohibit the troops from 
committing any violence towards the inhabitants ; but the royal army 
were regardless of the order, and excited everywhere feelings of disgust 
by their insolent and contemptuous behaviour ; meanwhile, the people 
experienced all the vicissitudes of war. The compiler of " Historical 
Anecdotes relating to America," wrote, in a letter dated New-York» 
February 9th, 1777, in "relating the occurrences of the previous two 

months, Mr. M gave the King's troops all the assistance in his 

power, for which the rebels took his eattle, and stripped his house ofits 



38 

furniture, because they said he was a d d tory. The next day the 

light dragoons came and took away all the provisions he had stored for 
the winter, because they said Mr. M was a d d rebel." 

At the close of 1776, the state of the American army was discoura- 
ging; many having quitted it on the expiration of their term of 
enlistment. Sir William Howe had gained advantage in the battle of 
White Plains, and every side presented a gloomy aspect. Washington, 
who rested his permanent hopes of victory on the justness of the cause 
to which he was devoted, was not to be dismayed by any difficulty ; 
his eye was ever watchful to seize the slightest opportunity that offered, 
in which he could benefit that cause, and his comprehensive mind saw a 
plan, which he immediately put in execution. By a secret movement of 
his army, he contrived to cross the Delaware during the night of the 25th 
of December ; he then marched nine miles to Trenton, where the Hessian 
and British troops were stationed, and having surrounded them on the 
heights of Dorchester, they, in surprise, threw down their arms, and 
Washington recrossed the Delaware, carrying with him the cannon, 
small arms, standards, and baggage of the enemy. 

This fortuitous mancBuvre had a powerful influence over the fate of 
the war ; it brought reinforcements to the army, and was the means of 
expelling the British from New Jersey. 

Whilst in winter-quarters, and previous to the campaign of 1777, 
General Washington took the precaution of having the men and the 
new recruits inoculated for the small-pox. Before the recommencement 
of hostilities, he renewed his communications to Congress, respecting the 
actual state of the army ; repeated the inconveniences of having only 
militia, and enumerated the great and almost insurmountable difficulties 
that existed among the troops. His communications did not meet with 
reciprocal feelings, it being the misfortune of that body to he^ve its inte- 
rest divided by several factions ; so that it acted, not on the broad basis 
of national benefit, but rather strayed into numerous by-paths, under 
the direction of individuals, who had art to conceal their limited and 
selfish views. This degree of apathy must have proceeded either from 
ignorance, as respected the military system, or from an innate bias 
towards economy, which sometimes led the Americans to commit great 
imprudences. They did not seem to have before their eyes the import- 
ant truth (to use the General's own words,) that, ""where one shilling is 
saved in pay, a pound may be lost through mismanagement in the office^ 

On the 19th of January, 1777, the General wrote as follows to the 
President of Congress : — 



29 

" Sir, — The fluctuating state of an army, composed completely of 
militia, bids fair to reduce us to the situation in which we were some 
little time ago ; that is, of scarce having any army at all — unless rein- 
forcements speedily arrive. One of the battalions from the city of 
Philadelphia, goes home to-day ; and the other two only remain a few 
days longer, upon courtesy. The time for which a country brigade 
under General Mifflin came out, is expired, and they stay from day to 
day by dint of solicitation. # • * * 

* Thus you^ have a sketch of our present army, with which 

we are obliged to keep up'appearances before an enemy already double 
to us in numbers ; and who, from every account, are withdrawing their 
troops from Rhode Island, to form a junction of their whole army, and 
make another attempt either to break up ours, or penetrate towards Phi- 
ladelphia — a thing by no means difficult now, as the ice affords an easy 
passage over the Delaware." 

In the spring of that year, it being evident by the movements of Lord 
Gornwallis, the leader of the royal forces, that he was preparing the 
army for an engagement with the Americans, Washington, who never 
exposed his army in battle, without ensuring, by every means in his 
power, the probability of victory, marched his men towards the Delaware 
and prepared for the defence of Philadelphia. The battle of Brandywine 
followed, and was fought with vigour by both parties, on llth of Sep- 
tember. Each side claimed the honour of victory, which remained 
undecided. Among the wounded officers, was the Marquis de Lafayette, 
who served as a volunteer in the cause of independence. A second 
engagement was contemplated ; indeed, some skirmishing had com- 
menced on the 16th, under a torrent of rain, which increased to such a 
degree, as to separate the contending armies. On examining the 
state of the American fire-arms, it was found necessary to refit them ; 
they were deficient also of ammunition, so that they were compelled 
to retreat; and when they had provided themselves afresh, General 
Howe, who had commanded that division of the British army, was 
making his way to Philadelphia, without coming to a battle. It was 
the opinion of Congress, and that of the public generally, that Washing- 
ton should lead his men to attack the British. But, when Washington 
summoned his officers to a council, it was their joint opinion that the 
situation of the army would not warrant such a measure, as they were 
undisciplined, unclothed, and nearly unfed. This determination, how- 
ever, did not cause them to be inactive ; as they were unfit for a general 
engagement, their Commander employed their services in annoying the 



30 

enemy, and cutting off the supplies wherever they could ; and they 
were actively employed till the cold season set in, when, not having the 
convenience of tents for encampment, Washington selected an extensive 
range of ground, Valley Forge, on which he erected huts, made of logs 
and mortar, and these served as substitutes for other, and the usual 
comforts of encampment. The state of the army whilst in winter-quar- 
ters, was truly distressing ; as, owing to the arrangements made by 
Congress with the Commissary Trumbull, and which caused him to 
resign, the military stores were nearly exhausted. The campaign in the 
north, where General Gates had gained some advantage over Burgoyne's 
division of the royal army, had caused the enemies of Washington to 
pursue their malignant plans against him with some chance of suc- 
cess. Conway had joined Gates, and under the banner of the factious 
party, they treated their Commander with contempt ; although they held 
their commissions under his appointment, Gates did not always send a 
statement of his proceedings to head-quarters. When the army 
was suffering from want of food, occasioned by the neglect of the 
subordinates delegated by Congress to furnish the supplies, Washington 
conceived it his duty to render a faithful account to Congress. It was 
treated with distrust ; that body blamed the Commander for the lenity 
he had exercised towards his countrymen, in not forciby seizing provi- 
sions sufficient for the support of his army. This the General explained, 
as not only a mode most injurious to the natives, but also one that was, 
on many accounts, impracticable. He continued his statements, and his 
opinions with the like fidelity, though his conduct did not effect the good 
he wished. His repeated advice to enlist regulars was also disregarded, 
until Congress felt its own error. The utmost that Washington could 
do, was to delay the surrender of Philadelphia, by annoying the enemy ; 
it was not in his power to do more : the city surrendered to the British, 
who took possession of it on the 26th September, 1777. The Congress 
adjourned its sitting to Lancaster. 

About the same period, General Burgoyne was leading a formidable 
army, which had for its object to cut off the States of New-England from 
the confederacy. He was rash and presumptuous ; faults that betrayed 
him into a too great confidence' as to victory. His exploits took place 
on the shores of the Hudson, where he was ably, and in the result, suc- 
cessfully opposed, by the division of the American army that was com- 
manded by General Gates, before whom he was compelled to retreat, 
and to sign a convention at Saratoga, on the 17th of October, by which 
his army surrendered their arms and artillery to the Americans ; with a 



31 

stipulation, that the troops Bhould return to Great Britain, on a condition 
not to serve again in the American war. 

At the close of the campaign in 1777, the faction which at the com- 
mencement of the war had shown its virulence, in writing spurious let- 
ters in the name of the Commander-in-Chief, signifying that he did not 
engage heartily in his country's cause, now began to be more free in 
its communications ; whisperings passed, and further pubUcity was 
gained, which caused a correspondence between the Generals Gates and 
Conway; the former of whom addressed the Commander on the 18th of 
December, requiring his acknowledgment by what means he had ob- 
tained an extract of General Conway's letter to him, namely, the following 
sentence : " Heaven has been determined to save your country, or a weak 
General and bad counsellors would have ruined »7." This letter was 
sent to General Washington through Congress, in January, 1778. The 
answer, therefore, was returned the same way. In the latter, Washington 
stated that, " * * * in his way to Congress, fell in with Lord 

Stirling, and without any injunction of seoresy, told his aid-de-camp, 
Major M' Williams, what Conway had written to General Gates." 

Congress showed itself to be influenced by the factious party : it failed 
in the confidence it had promised to rest on Washington's judgment. 
This appeared particularly in the obstacles advanced by that body to 
prevent the execution of the Cartel, resolved on by Howe and 
Washington, relating to the exchange of prisoners ; they plainly evinced 
that they entertained suspicions of which the commander's intentions 
were incapable, and his conduct showed the integrity of his mind. In' 
his usual upright manner, he continued his good advice to Congress, and 
urged their submission to the engagement, on the principles of good 
faith, honour, and humanity. , That was a crisis, which Paine notified by 
saying, " these are the times that try the souls ofmenJ' The courage of 
the Americans fell ; Washington stood alone erect, and suiveyed, with 
firm composure, the storm by which he was surrounded ; whilst envy 
and all her train were engaged in dark and slanderous machinations 
against him. The conspiracy harboured in its bosom, members of the 
Congress and officers in the army ; the treacherous phalanx acquired an 
extent which gave them a fancied security, and the following anony- 
mous letter was enclosed to Mr. Patrick Henry, governor of the 
Commonwealth of Virginia: — 

" Dear SIr : Yorkiown, January 12ik, 1776. 

" The common danger of our country first brought you and me 
together. I recollect, with pleasure, the influence of your conversation 



3Z 

and eloquence upon the opinions of this country, in the beginning of the 
present controversy. You first taught us to shake off our idolatrous 
attachment to royalty, and to oppose its encroachments upon our 
liberties, with our very lives. By these means you saved us from ruin. 
The independence of America is the offspring of that liberal spirit of 
thinking and acting, vi^hich followed the destruction of the spectres of 
Kings, and the mighty power of Great Britain. 

" But, Sir, we have only passed the Red Sea, A dreary wilderness is 
still before us, and unless a Moses oi a Joshua arc raised up in our behalf, 
we must perish before wc reach the promised land. We have nothing 
to fear from our enemies on the way. General Howe, it is true, has 
taken Philadelphia ; but he has only changed his prison. His do- 
minions are bounded on all sides by his out-sentries. America can only 
be undone by herself. She looks up to her councils and arms for 
protection ; but, alas ! what are they % Her representation to Congress, 
dwindled to twenty-one members ; her Adams, her Wilson, her Henry, 
are no more among them. Her councils weak, and only partial 
remedies applied for universal diseases. Her army, what is it ? A major- 
general belonging to it, called it a few days ago, in my hearing, a mioh. 
Discipline unknown, or wholly neglected. The quarter-master and 
commissary's departments filled with idleness, ignorance, and specu- 
lation ; our hospitals crowded with six thousand sick, but half provided 
with necessaries or accommodations, and more dying in them in one 
month, than perished in the field during the whole of the last campaign. 
The money depreciating, without any effectual measures being taken to 
raise it; the country distracted with the Don Gluixote attempts to 
regulate the price of provisions, — an artificial famine created by it, 
and a real one dreaded from it ; the spirit of the people failing through 
a more intimate acquaintance with the causes of our misfortunes ; many 
submitting daily to General Howe, and more wishing to do it, only to 
avoid the difficulties which threaten our country. But is our case 
desperate 1 By no means. We have wisdom, virtue, and strength 
enough to save us, if they could be called into action. The JYortkern army 
has shown us what Americans are capable of doing, with a General at 
their head. The spirit of the Southern army is no way inferior to the 
spirit of the Northern. A Gates, a Lee, or a Conway, would, in a few 
weeks, render them an irresistible body of men. The last of the above 
officers has accepted of the new office of inspector-general of our army, 
in order to reform abuses j but the remedy is only a palUative one. In 
one of his letters to a friend he says, 'A great and good God hath decreed 



33 

America to be free, or the * * * and weak counsellors, 
would have ruined her long ago.' You may rest assured of each of the 
facts prelated in this letter. The author of it is one of your Philadelphia 
friends. A hint of his name, if found out by the hand-writing-, must not 
be mentioned to your most intimate friend. Even the letter must be 
thrown in the fire. But some of its contents ought to be made public, 
in order to awaken, enlighten, and alarm our country. I rely upon your 
prudence, and am, dear sir, &c." 

General Washington in his reply, dated Valley Forge, March 27th, 
1778, says: "The favourable light in which you hold me is truly 
flattering ; but I should feel much regret, if I thought the happiness of 
America so intimately connected with my personal welfare, as you so 
obligingly seem to consider it. All I can sa}^ is, that she has ever had, 
and I trust she ever will have, my honest exertions to promote lior 
interest. I cannot hope that my services have been the best ; but my 
heart tells me they have been the best that I could render. 

" That I may have erred in using the means in my power, for accom- 
plishing the objects of the arduous, exalted station with which I am 
honoured, I cannot doubt ; nor do I wish my conduct to be exempted 
from the reprehension it may deserve. Error is the portion of humanity ; 
and to censure it, whether committed by this or that public character, is 
the prerogative of freemen. 

" My caution to avoid every thing that could injure the service, 
prevented me from communicating, except to a very few of my friends, 
the intrigues of a faction which I knew was formed against me, since 
it might serve to publish our internal dissensions ; but their own restlesf; 
"eal to advance their views, has too clearly betrayed them, and made 
concealment on my part fruitless. I cannot precise^ mark the extent 
of their views ; but it appeared, in general, that General Gates was to 
be exalted on the ruin of my reputation and influence. This I am 
authorised to secy, from undeniable facts in my own possession, that this 
is not the only secret, insidious ' attempt, that has been made to wound 
my reputation. There have been others equally base, cruel, and un- 
generous, because conducted v/ith as little frankness, and proceeding 
from views, perhaps as personally interested. 

" I am, dear Sir, &c. &c. 

" GEORGE WASHINGTON.' ' 

What could be more noble in disposition, more worthy of imitation, or 
conduct more strongly indicative of honest integrity, than this proceeding 
ofWashington ? who was so entirely free from any littleness of character, 



34 

that he continued the same irreproachable course — the same impartial 
advice to Congress. The jealousy of faction, also, continued its virulence 
and its mode of intrigue. Letters of an Englishman, who resided in New- 
York in the years 1777 and 1778, show that a party there kept up a 
correspondence with the English ministers, for the purpose of leading the 
cabinet to exercise oppressive measures against the colonists. Congress 
acted with inconsistency, and used delay in their decisions. That body 
differed from Washington in the final arrangement of the army, and still 
evinced too much rehance on the n.ilitia; regardless of his persevering 
advice to enlist regulars, he declared in a letter to the President, that 
"until officers consider their commissions in an honourable and inte* 
rested point of view, and are afraid to endanger them by negligence and 
inattention, no order, regularity, or care, either of the men or public 
property, will prevail." 

Among the reports circulated by the malice of Washington's enemies, 
■was that of his intention to resign the office of Commander-in-Chief. 
On this matter, he wrote thus to a friend in England : " I can assure 
you, that no person ever heard me drop an expression that had a ten- 
dency to resignation. The same principles that led me to embark in 
opposition to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain, operate with 
additional force at this day ; nor is it my desire to withdraw my services 
while they are considered of importance in the present contest ; but to 
report a design of this kind, is among the arts which those who are 
endeavouring to effect a change, are practising to bring it to pass. I 
have said, and I still do say, that there is not an officer in the service of 
the United States, that would return to the sweets of domestic life with 
more heart-felt joy than I should! Bat I would have this declaration 
accompanied by these sentiments, that, while the public are satisfied 
with these endeavours, I mean not to shrink from the cause. But the 
moment her voice, not that of faction, calls upon me to resign, I shall do 
it with as much pleasure as ever the weary traveller retired to rest." 

About the same period, he addressed Congress respecting the impera- 
tive wants of the army, who were nearly without food or clothing ; to 
that statement he added, " With truth, I can declare, that no man, in my 
opinion, ever had his measures more impeded than I have, by every depart- 
ment of the armij.^'' In this sentence, the Commander alluded to the 
existing evil, that every officer had a notion that he conferred a favour, 
rather than received one by beiirg in it ; and, on the least inconvenience, 
he thought himself at liberty to quit it. 

Washington received a letter from his friend, Mr. Laurens, the Presi- 



35 

dent of Congress, apprising him of certain accusations against him, in 
his office of Commander-in Chief ; to which the General replied, as 
follows, from camp, March, 177S: 

"As I have no other view than to promote the public good, 
and am unambiticus of honours, not founded on the approbation of my 
country, I would not desire, in the least degree, to suppress a free spirit 
of inquiry into any part of my conduct, that even faction itself may 
deem reprehensible. * * * # 

* * * ' My enemies take an ungenerous advantage of 

me. They know the delicacy of my situation, and that motives of 
policy deprive me of the defence, I might otherwise make against their 
insidious attacks. They know I cannot combat their insinuations, 
however injurious, without disclosing secrets it is of the utmost moment 
to conceal. But why, should I expect to be free from censure, the un- 
failing lot of an elevated station ? Merit and talents, which I cannot 
pretend to rival, have ever been subject to it. My heart tells me, it has 
ever been my unremitted aim, to do the best which my circumstances 
would permit. Yet I may have been very often mistaken in my judg- 
ment of the means, and may, in many instances, deserve the imputation 
of error. * * * * # 

* * On being assured last Saturday, and convinced 

of the certain truth, from the only commissary in the purchasing line, 
in this camp, that he had not a single hoof of any kind to slaughter, 
and not more than twenty-five barrels of flour, all I could do under 
these circumstances, was to send out a few light parties to watch and 
harass the the enemy ; whilst other parties were instantly detached 
different ways to collect, if possible, as much provision as would satisfy 
the present pressing wants of the soldiers; but will this answer? No, 
Sir. Three or four days of bad weather, would prove our destruction. 
What, then, is to become of the army this winter? And if we are now as 
often without provisions as with them, what is to become of us in the 
spring, when our force will be collected, with the aid perhaps of militia, 
to take advantage of an early campaign before the enemy can be re- 
inforced ? These are considerations of great magnitude, meriting the 
closest attention, and will, when my own reputation is so ultimately 
connected with, and to be affected by the event, justify my saying, that 
the present commissaries are by no mean^; equal to the execution of the 
office; or that the disaffectior of the people surpasses all belief." He 
then proceeded to observe on the result of the Congress having acted- 
contrary to his opinion respecting the commissariat department ; and: 



36 

continues to say in the same letter : — "With truth I can declare, that no 
man, in my opinion, ever had his measures more impeded than I have, 
j* * * Notwithstanding it is a standing order (often 

repeated) that the troops shall have two days' provisions always by them, 
that they may be ready at any sudden call ; yet scarcely any opportu- 
nity has offered of taking advantage of the enemy, but it has been either 
totally obstructed, or greatly impeded, on this account ; and this, the 
great and crying evil, is not all ! Soap, vinegar, and other articles, 
allowed by Congress, we see none of; nor have we seen them, I believe» 
since the battle of Brandywine. The first, indeed we have little occa- 
sion for; few men having more than one shirt, many only the 
moiety of one, and some none at all. * * # # 

* * * We have by a field return, this day made, no 

less than two thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight men, now in 
camp, unfit for duty, because they are barefoot, and otherwise naked.'' 

To the above were added other statements, none of which were 
in the least exaggerated. However, the Congress had not neglected 
to adopt the best measures they could, to provide the army with clothes; 
but the non-iaiportation agreement had lessened the quantity of goods, 
and home manufactures did not equal the consumption. 

The General continued to urge the necessity of recruiting, and sent 
to each slate a correct return of its troops on continental establishment, 
that each province might know its deficiency. Congress deputed a 
committee to reside in tlic camp, and to make their report of the state of 
the army, tuid they arrived in Januarj^, 1778. 

At this period the army seemed to have reached the acme of distress; 
lor, although the committee found the troops even in a worse case than 
they had been represented, still Congress persisted in tiieir desire to keep 
the subordinate agents under the inunediate dependence of their body. 
Ills but justice to observe, that it was due to the sincere attachment and 
high esteera which the officers and soldiers maintained and felt towards 
their Commander, that alone prevented the dissolution of the army. 
Happily too, for America, the condition of Washington was not under- 
stood by Sn William Howe, who, had he determined on an attack, 
would doubtless have driven the Americans out of their camp. 

General Clinton succeeded Sir William Howe in the command of 
the loyalist army. In the battle of Monmouth, Washington proved 
himself a great and able general, and received the thanks of Congress 
for his conduct on that occasion. General Conway having received a 
wound in battle, that was supposed dangerous, he addressed the follow- 
ing note to General Washington, July 23d, 1778 : " My career will soon 



37 

be over, therefore, justice and truth prompt me to declare my last senti-^ 
ments. You are, in my eyes, the great and good man. May you long 
enjoy the love, veneration and esteem of those states, whose liberties 
you have asserted by your virtues. 

" I am with the greatest respect, Sir, &c., &c. 

" P. Conway." 
On the 6th of June, Lord Corn wal lis, Lord Carlisle, Governor 
Johnston, and Wm. Eden, Esq., arrived in Pennsylvania, with proposals 
of reconciliation from England, grounded on an union of the two 
nations, and under one sovereign ; on this matter, bribery was had 
recourse to ; it even made its way to Congress. JMr. Read, in reply to an 
application made to him, said, he was not worth purchasing ; neverthe- 
less, such as he was, the King of England was not rich enough to do it. 
A plan, in which France then joined, was proposed for the invasion 
of Canada; but Washington, aware of its impracticability, went to 
Philadelphia to hold an interview with Congress, to whom he explained 
the reasons of his advice ; and the- members, convinced of his right 
judgment, gave up the plan. The English commissioners proceeded in 
the attempt to conciliate the parties, and issued circulars to each 
State, holding out pardons to such as would return to their loyalty. 
This scheme entirely failed of success. In Congress a plan was 
concerted for making war on the Indian nations, who had inflicted 
serious injuries on the western frontiers of America. These were under 
the protection of Britain, and many loyalists had taken refuge among 
them ; when, however, the army destined to act in this expedition were 
assembled, such discontent appeared as threatened the dissolution of 
the army, or at best, the resignation of its officers, as soon as others 
could be found willing to take their places. When Washington was 
apprised of the circumstance, he expressed his sentiments fully to 
General Maxwell, acknowledged his consciousness of their patience 
and perseverance, said that their conduct under difficulties, of a most 
trying and personal nature, had been such as to gain them honour at 
home and abroad, and had inspired him with an unlimited ^confidence 
in their virtue ; and added, men who had not been outdone in the qualities 
of citizens and soldiers, could not seriously intend any thing that would 
be a stain on their former reputation, and he flattered himself they 
would recall those inconsiderate resolutions, and v/ould regret they had 
ever been mentioned. The officers, with all deference to the virtues 
and abilities of their Commander-in-Chief, replied, that they had lost all 
confidence in the legislature, as their frequent memorials for the arrears 
of pay remained unnoticed. " Few of us," they continued, " have private 



38 

fortunes ; many have families, who already are suffering every thing- 
that can be received from an ungrateful country." Yet they would not 
disobey their commander, but persevered in their intention to serve no 
longer, than until others could be found willing to supply their places. 

Washington, who saw clearly the errors into which faction had 
brought his countrymen, said, in a letter which he wrote to a friend in 
the beginning of the year 1779 : " To me it appears no unjust simile to 
compare the affairs of this great continent to the mechanism of a clockv 
each state representing some one or other of the smaller parts of it, 
which they are endeavouring to put in fine order, without considering 
how useless and unavaihng their labour is, unless the great wheel, or 
spring, which is to set the whole in motion, is also well attended to, and 
kept in good order. I allude to no particular State, but as it is a 
fact too notorious to be concealed, that Congress is rent by party ; that 
much business of a trifling nature, and personal concernment, withdraws- 
their attention from matters of great national moment at this critical 
period; when it is also known that idleness and dissipation, take place 
of close attention and apphcation, no man who wishes well to the hberties 
of this country, and desires to see its rights established, can avoid crying 
out, — Where are our men of abilities 1 Why do they not come forward- 
to save their country 1 Let this voice, my dear Sir, call upon you,. 
Jefferson, and others." 

The movements of the enemy's army along the Hudson, caused the- 
Americans to be very active. The principal division, with the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, once more raised their hut encampment, and passed the 
winter, from December, near Morristown. Still the endeavours of those 
members of Congress, who aimed to fix Independence on the firmest 
basis, weie continually opposed by the party whose jealousy led them 
to dread a too strong adhesion to power, so that, possessing the means, 
Congress did not possess the necessary confidence in its own body, to 
secure it, and when the campaign of 1780 came to a close, the condition 
of the men was no way improved ; the army had neither meat nor flour, 
— the progressive depreciation of the currency had, in a great measursj 
occasioned this depressed state of things, which had come to so critical a 
point, as obliged the Commissary to inform General Washington that he 
had no money, and his credit was exhausted. In this emergency, the 
General required of the different counties to send meat and flour in pro- 
portion to their respective resources, for an immediate supply. The 
merchants and residents of Philadelphia were foremost to contribute a 
large sum of money, with which a bank was established for the supply 
of the army. The ladies cheerfully underwent privations to render their 



39 

■assistance, and sent gratuities for the private solrfiers, and the anhi^^ 
versary of American Independence was observed with great splendor. 
The spirit was adopted by the females generally ; at Baliimore they 
made up clothing for the soldiers, and the Marquis de Lafayette, who 
felt a strong interest in the welfare of the States, made a journey to 
Paris for the purpose of engaging the aid of his Christian Majesty on 
behalf of the infant Republic of America. At Boston an academy was 
estabhshed for the cultivation Of every art and science, that could ad- 
vance the interest and dignity of a virtuous people. Meanwhile the 
cause suffered from the pecuhar state of the army, and the continual 
fluctuation of the men, many of whom engaged only for a short period, 
barely sufficient to initiate them in the art of war, and then were suc- 
ceeded by new and raw young men, just when the former ones had begun 
to understand discipline, and set a right value on its effects. A plan of 
half pay was proposed and granted by Congress, as a means of reward 
to those who renewed their engagements, and continued their services. 
In the summer of 1781, a fleet with troops from France, under the com- 
mand of Admiral Count de Grasse, arrived most opportunely, for the 
honour of America. The following extract from the Commander-in- 
Chiefs Journal will show how opportunely : 

'* 1781, May 1st. Instead of having nn arsenal well supplied loith military 
stores, they are poorly provided, and the loorkmen all leaving them. Instead 
of having the various articles of field equipage in readiness to deliver, the 
quarter-master. general is but now applying to the several States (as 
a dernier resort) to provide thesn things for their respective troops. In- 
stead of having a regular system of transportation established upon credit, 
or funds in the quarter-master' s haiids to defray the conti?igent expenses 
of it, we have neither one nor the other ; and all that business, or a great 
fart of it, being done by military impressment, we are daily and hourly 
oppressing the people, souring their tempers, and alienating their affec- 
tions. Instead of having the regiments completed, there is little prospect 
of ever getting more than half. In. a word, instead of having every thing 
in readiness for taking the field, we have nothing. ^^ 

An obstinate battle was fought at the Eutaw-Springs on the 8th of 
September ; it lasted four hours, and was so nearly equal in pomt of 
bravery, and its alternate succession of victory and loss, that the advan- 
tage was claimed by both parties, without either being pronounced the 
final, conqueror. After that engagement, the thanks of Congress were 
sent to the army, and Major General Greene received a British standard 
and a golden medal in honour of his merit. The provincial militia at 
this time fought witjj all the spirit and perseverance of old and well- 



40 

tried soldiers ; the bayonet, which formerly was dreaded, now had be- 
come their favourite weapon. The army, though harassed by fatigue, 
and suffering continued privations, seemed to gather fresh energy from 
its experience. The revenge of the royalists went sometimes so far as 
to occasion the murder of many who were priBoners, and whose known 
patriotism caused them to be regarded as enemies. In order to prevent 
retaliation, the American General issued an order, to execute the man 
who should kill another after he had been made a prisoner. 

Lord Rawdon having gone back to England in ill health, the com- 
mand of the British troops in South Carolina was committed to Lieute- 
nant-Colonel Stuart. 

Very great dissatisfaction prevailed through the American army at 
this period, but particularly with the troops from Pennsylvania, who 
had undergone less hardships than the others, but who refused to remain 
longer without receiving their arrears of ^ay, and actually marched out 
of camp ; but when General Clinton sent favourable proposals to them, 
they spurned his offers with contempt. Proposals of an amicable ad- 
justment arrived from England in the beginning of 1782. These Wash- 
ington begged of Congress to receive with great caution, as he plainly 
saw it was not then intended to acknowledge the independence of the 
United States, without which, as the basis, the Commander-in-Chief 
considered any overture nothing more than a design to lull the Ameri- 
cans into a false security. Congress saw the advantage of his advice, 
and issued its determination of adhering to its former treaty, not to make 
a separate peace with England ; and refused to enter into the discussion 
of any overtures, but in confidence, and in concert with the King of 
France. From the doubtful state as to the intention of the English par- 
liament, (many of its members being known to be greatly averse to the 
continuance of the war, as occasioning an immense waste of money) 
— the precaution adopted by the French to prevent a separate treaty — 
and the firm determination of Congress to maintain their Declaration 'of 
Independence, the two armies remained inactive the greatest part of the 
year 1782. The cessation of hostihties rendered it a matter of indiffer- 
ence whether Washington remained in the camp or not ; but he, who 
knew the uneasy state of the soldiers, stopped to watch over their 
movements. Though a resolution had been passed by Congress in 
1780, granting half-pay for life to the officers employed in the war, no 
specific fund was appropriated to the payment ; so that in proportion as 
negociations for peace advanced, the officers felt their anxiety increase 
respecting their personal situation. Their Commandej thus expressed 
his sentiments to a friend, in a letter from Morristown; " When I see 



41 

a number of men goaded by a thousand stings of reflection on the past, 
and of anticipation regarding the future, about to be returned to the 
world — soured by penury, and what they call the ingratitude of the 
public — involved in debts, without one farthing of money to carry them 
home — after having spent the flower of their days, and many of them 
their patrimonies, in establishing the freedom and independence of their 
country ; and having suffered every thing which human nature is capable 
of enduring on this side of death. When I reflect on these irritating cir- 
cumstances, unattended by one thing to soothe their feelings, or brighten 
the gloomy prospect, I cannot avoid apprehending that a train of evils 
will follow, of a very serious and alarming nature." 

The designs of Lord Cornwallis, who commanded the royalist eiTmy, 
being completely frustrated by the conduct of the American troops, 
aided by the French, under the Commander-in-Chief, General Wash- 
ington — the garrisons of New- York and Gloucester Point having been 
ceded, with the arms, ammunition, and public stores of every description, 
to Washington ; and the ships and seamen to Admiral de Grasse, to be 
added to the forces of America, the contest ended with the consent of 
the King of England to acknowledge the Thirteen United States, as a 
sovereign and independent power. 

During the winter of 1782, the different political parties were busily 
preparing to bring about their different plans ; but a division of opinion 
regarding the army was a principal object of discussion. The officers 
deputed a committee from among themselves to carry a petition to Con- 
gress in December, which remained unnoticed at the end of February, 
1783, when a rumour reached the camp that the eventual articles of 
peace had been fixed, and, in a few days after, it was announced that 
they had been signed by the ministers of England and America. 

On the 10th of March, an anonymous address was circulated among 
the officers, which had for its object to instil into their minds that their 
Commander-in-Chief was wholly careless of their interest. It sum- 
moned them to an early meeting to concert on the most proper measures 
to be adopted ; and by the most subtle and mischievous reasoning, 
endeavoured to draw them to act treasonably, to possess themselves of 
land, and, in defiance of the Legislature, take the establishment of their 
fortunes into their own hands. 

I cannot refrain from observing the talent and eloquence brought 
forward in this address ; and likewise the honesty and firmness with 
which it was met. 

Washington, with his wonted prudence and foresight, impelled too, 
by a strong aflfection for his fellow-labourers in the field of glory, noticed 



42 

in his military order the anonymous paper, and expressed his opinion, 
that the good sense of the officers would prevent them from paying any 
attention to such an irregular invitation. He requested the general and 
field officers, with one officer from each company, to assemble on the 
15th, to hear the report of their own committee, deputed by the array to 
Congress, who would devise, after mature deliberation, what measures 
would be best towards obtaining the object they had in view. 

At the meeting, held on the 15th of March, the chair was taken by 
General Gates, and the Commander-in-Chief addressed the officers in an 
appropriate speech, and with affectionate earnestness, exposed to them 
the insidious intentions of the writer, who had taken this disgraceful 
mode of exciting their irritated feelings. Having given them much 
candid and salutary advice, he concluded with the following delineation 
of his own sentiments: — 

" For myself, a recollection of the cheerful assistance and prompt 
obedience I have experienced from you, under every vicissitude of for- 
tune, and the sincere affection I feel for an army I have so long had 
the honour to command, will oblige me to declare in this public and 
solemn manner, that in the attainment of complete justice for all your 
toils and dangers, and in the gratification of every wish, so far as may 
be done consistently with the great duty I owe my country, and those 
powers we are bound to respect, you may freely command rriy services 
to the utmost extent of my abilities." 

That meeting was held on the 15th of March; many resolutions 
were passed, which Washington forwarded to Congress, accompanied 
by a letter from himself to the President ; it was written in the honest 
plain language of truth, and contained a fair statement of facts, as the 
following extract will show : — 

" If the whole army have not merited whatever a grateful people can 
bestow, than have I been beguiled by prejudice, and built opinion on 
the basis of error. If this country should not in the event perform 
every thing which has been requested in the late memorial to Congress, 
then will my belief become vain, and the hope that has been excited 
void of foundation. If the officers of the army are to be the only suf- 
ferers in the revolution ; if, retiring from the field, they are to grow old in 
poverty, wretchedness, and contempt ; if they are to wade through the 
vile mire of dependency, and owe the miserable remnant of that life to 
charity, which has hithei'to. been spent in honour, then shall I have 
learned what ingratitude is ; then shall I have realized a tale which 
will embitter every moment of my future life." * . * 

* * "1 hope I need not, on this momentous occasion, 



43 

make any new protestations of disinterestedness, having ever renounced 
for myself the idea of pecuniary reward. The consciousness of having 
attempted faithfully to perform my duty, and the approbation of my 
country, will be a sufficient recompense for my services." 

This proceeding was followed by the consent of Congress to com- 
mute the half-pay into a sum, in gross, equal to five years' pay ; but 
when the cessation of hostilities was publicly proclaimed on the 19th 
of April, the treasury was entirely empty; and. though long arrears of 
pay to the army were due, both officers and men were compelled to 
return home without money i Their general conduct on that occasion 
reflects great honour on the American character ; and it was well known 
that the virtue then exercised by the army had its rise in the strong 
attachment they bore to their commander. 

On the 18th of June, 1783, General Washington issued a circular, 
which he sent from head-quarters, Newburgh, to the Governors of the 
separate States. In that he says, 

" The great object for ^ which I had the honour to hold an appoint- 
ment in the service of my country, being accomplished, I am now pre- 
paring to resign it. into the hands of Congress, and return to that 
domestic retirement for which I have never ceased to sigh through a long 
and painful absence, in which I meditate to pass the remainder of life 
in a state of undisturbed repose ; but before I carry this resolution into 
effect, I think it a duty incumbent on me to make this my last official 
communication, to congratulate you on the glorious events which Heaven 
has been pleased to produce in our favour, and to offer my sentiments 
respecting some important subjects, which appear to me to be intimately 
connected with the tranquillity of the United States. 

" When we consider the magnitude of the prize we contended 
for, the doubtful nature of the contest, and the favourable manner in 
which it has terminated, we shall find the greatest possible reason for 
gratitude and rejoicing ; whether we view the event in a natural, a 
political, or moral point of view. 

" The citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, 
as the sole lords and proprietors of a vast tract of continent, compre- 
hending all the various soils and climates of the world, and abounding 
in all the necssaries and conveniences of life, are now, by the late satis- 
factory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom 
and independency; and are, from this period, to be considered as the 
actors on a most conspicuous theatre. The foundation of our empire is 
laid at an epocha when the rights of mankind are better understood 
and more clearly defined than at any former period; researches of the 



44 

human mind after social happiness have been carried to a great extent. 
The treasures of knowledge acquired by the labours of philosophers, 
sages, and legislators, through a long succession of years, are laid open 
for use, and their collected wisdom may be happily apphed in the 
establishment of our forms of government : the free cultivation of let- 
ters, the unbounded extension of commerce, the progressive refinement 
of manners, the growing liberality of sentiment, and, above all, the 
pure and benign light of revelation have had a meliorating influence on 
mankind, and increased the blessings of society. At this auspicious 
period the United States came into existence as a nation, and if their 
citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be 
entirely their own. 

" Notwithstanding the cup of blessing is thus held out to us,— not- 
withstanding happiness is ours, if we have a disposition to seize the 
occasion and make it our own ; yet it appears to me there is an option 
still left to the United States of America, whether they will be respect- 
able and prosperous, or contemptible and miserable as a nation ; — this 
is the time of their political probation, — this is the moment, when the 
eyes of the whole world are turned upon them, — this is the moment to 
establish or ruin their national character for ever, — this is the favour- 
able moment to give such a tone to the federal government, as will 
enable it to answer the ends of its institution ; or this may be the ill- 
fated moment for relaxing the powers of the union, annihilating the 
u cement of the confederation, and exposing us to become the sport of 
European politics, which may play one State against another, to pre- 
vent their growing importance, and to serve their own interested pur- 
poses. For, according to the system of policy the States shall adopt 
at this moment, they will stand or fall ; and, by their confirmation or 
lapse, it is yet to be decided, whether the revolution must be ultimately 
considered as a blessing or a curse, — a blessing or a curse, not to the 
present age alone, for with our fate will the destiny of unborn milh'ons 
be involved. 

" With this conviction of the importance of the present crisis, silence 
in me would be a crime ; I will, therefore, speak to your Excellency 
the language of freedom and sincerity, without disguise. 

" There are four things which I humbly conceive are essential to the 
well-being, I may evon venture to say, to the existence of the United 
States as an independent power : 

" 1st. Indissoluble union of the States under one head. 

"2d. A sacred regard to public justice. 

" 3d. The adoption of a proper peace establishment ; and 



45- 

" 4th. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly disposition among 
the people of the United States, which will induce them to forget their 
local prejudices and policies, to make those mutual concessions which 
are requisite to the general prosperity, and, in some instances, to sacri- 
fice their individual advantages to the interest of the community. 

" These are the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our indepen- 
dency and national character must be supported. Liberty is the basis, 
and whoever would dare to sap the foundation, or overturn the structure, 
under whatever specious pretexts he may attempt it, will merit the bit- 
terest execration, and the severest punishment which can be inflicted by 
his injured country. 

" Under the first head : unless the States willsuffer Congress to ex- 
ercise those prerogatives they are undoubtedly invested with by the con- 
stitution, every thing must very rapidly tend to anarchy and confusion. 

" That it is indispensable to the happiness of the individual States, 
that there shouldb e lodged, somewhere, a supreme power, to regulate 
and govern the general concerns of the confederated repubhc, without 
which the union cannot be of long duration. 

" That whatever measures have a tendency to dissolve the union, or 
contribute to violate or lessen the sovereign authority, ought to be con- 
sidered as hostile to the liberty and independency of America, and the 
authors of them treated accordingly. And lastly, that unless we can 
be enabled, by the concurrence of the States, to participate of the fruits 
of the revolution, and enjoy the essential benefits of civil society, under 
a form of government so free and uncorrupted, so happily guarded 
against the danger of oppression, as has been devised and adopted by 
the articles of confederation, it will be a subject of regret, that so much 
blood and treasure have been lavished for no purpose; that so many 
sufferings have been encountered without a compensation, and that so 
many sacrifices have been made in vain. Many other considerations 
might here be adduced to prove, that without an entire conformity to 
the spirit of the Union, we cannot exist as an independent power. It 
will be sufficient for my purpose to mention but one or two, which seem 
to me of the greatest importance. It is only in our united character as 
an empire, that our independence is acknowledged, that our power can 
be regarded, or our credit supported among ■ foreign nations. The 
treaties of the European powers with the United States of America, will 
have no vahdity on the dissolution of the Union. 

" As to the second article, which respects the performance of public 
justice, the ability of the country to discharge the debts which have 
been incurred in its defence, is not to be doubted. An inclination, I 



4€ 

flatter myself, will not be wanting ; the path of our duty is plain before 
us; honesty will be found, on every experiment, to be the best ajid only 
true policy. Let us, then, as a nation, be just ; let us fulfil the public 
contracts which Congress had undoubtedlj' a right to' make for the 
purpose of carrying on the war, with the same good faith we suppose 
ourselves bound to perform our private engagements. In the meantime, 
let an attention to the cheerful performance of their proper business, as 
individuals, and as members of society, be earnestly inculcated on the 
citizens of America ; then will they strengthen the bands of govern- 
ment, and be happy under its protection. Every one will reap the 
fruit of his labours ; every one will enjoy his own acquisitions, without 
molestation and without danger." 

The retiring Commander pointed out the strong merits of the men 
who had served under him, saying, " The complicated difficulties and 
embarrassmeats in which our affairs were involved, would have long 
ago produced the dissolution of any army, less patient, less virtuous, 
and less persevering, than that 'which I have had the honour to 
command. 

" I have here freely disclosed what I wished to make known, before I 
surrendered up my public trust to those who committed it to me. The 
task is'now accomplished ; I now bid adieu to your Excellency, as the 
Chief Magistrate of your State ; at the same time, I bid a last farewell 
to the cares of office, and all the employments of public life. 

" It remains, then, to be my final and only request, that your Excel- 
lency will communicate these sentiments to your Legislature at their 
next meeting ; and that they may be considered as the legacy of one 
who has ardently wished, on all occasions, to be useful to his country, 
and who, even in the shade of retirement, will not fail to implore the 
Divine benediction upon it. 

" 1 now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and 
the State over which you preside, in his holy protection ; that he would 
incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination 
and obedience to government ; to entertain a brotherly love and affec- 
tion for each other, for their fellow-citizens of the United States at 
large ; and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field j 
and, finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all 
to do justice, to love mercy, and to deinean ourselves with that charity, 
humility, and pacific temper of the mind, which were the character- 
istics of the Divine Author of our bleased religion, without an humble 



47 

imitation of whose example, in these things, we can never hope to be a 
happy nation. 

" I have the honour to be, &c. &<;. 
" To his Excellency Wm. Greene, Esq., Governor 
of the State of Rhode Island." 

On the 25th of November General Washington, accompanied by 
General Clinton, made his public entry into the city of New-York, and 
on the 3d of December he took an affectionate leave of the army, and 
on the following day commenced his journey to Annapolis, for the pur- 
pose of resigning his commission into the hands of Congress ; but 
stopped at Philadelphia to settle his account with the Comptroller there. 
All was in his own handwriting, and done with the utmost regularity, 
up to the 13th of December. In a folio M.S. book, No. 3700, on the 
file of the Treasury office, are the bills, with all the corresponding 
vouchers. 

General Washington's account, from June, 1775, 

to.theendof June, . . . 17S3, 16,311 17 1 

From July 1st, 1783, to December 13th, . . 1,717 6 4 

Added afterwards from that date to December, . 213 8 4 ■ 

Mrs. Washington's travelling expenses coming and 

returning to the General, . . . . 1,064 1 



19,306 11 9 



In 'the General's handwriting, is a note signifying that he was a 
considerable loser. " My disbursements," he wrote, " falling a good 
deal short of my receipts, and the money I had upon hand of my own. 
Through hurry, I suppose, I know not how else to account for the 
deficiency, I have omitted to charge the same, whilst every debt against 
me is here credited. July 1st, 1783." 

General Washington reached Annapolis on the 19th of December, 
and finding it was the wish of Congress to receive their honoured Chief 
with all possible respect, he gave in his resignation in a full assembly 
on the 23d, and then proceeded to his retirement at Mount Vernon. 
There addresses from the several States followed him ; Congress passed 
a resolution to erect a statue to commemorate his exploits, — an example 
that was followed in Virginia. Few persons have experienced the real 
enjoyment which Washington expressed himself to feel in his rural 
employments. A few days after his arrival at Mount Vernon, he thus 
describes his thoughts in a letter to his friend Lafayette : 

" At length, my dear Marquis, I have become a private citizen on the 



48 

banks of the Potomac, ami under the shadow of my own vine, and my 
own fig tree, free from the bustle of a camp, and the busy scenes of 
public life. I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments, of 
which the soldier, who is ever in pursuit of fame — the statesman, whose 
watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to 
promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as 
if this globe was insufficient for us all — and the courtier, who is always 
watching the countenance of his prince, in the hope of catching a 
gracious smile — can have very little conception. I have not only 
retired from all public employments, but am retiring within myself, and 
shall be able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private 
life, with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to 
be pleased with all ; and this, my dear friend, being the order of my 
march, I will move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with 
my fathers." 

He then acknowledges the force of habit; that he is disposed to 
ruminate, on awaking in the morning, on the probable business of the 
day, and ends with, " I feel, as I conceive a wearied traveller must do, 
who after treading many a painful step with a heavy burden on his 
shoulders, is eased of the latter, having reached the haven to which all 
the former were directed ; and from his house top is looking back, and 
tracing with an eager eye, the meanders by which he escaped the 
quicksands and mires which lay in his way, and into which none but 
the all-powerful Guide and Dispenser of human events could have 
prevented his falling." 

By a strict division of his time, the Patriot was able to ameliorate the 
state of agriculture, and to effect many projects that proved bene- 
ficial to his country. One principal object of his labour was the 
improvement of commerce by the navigation of the rivers. Nature, he 
said, had been so partial a parent to the country, that the more it was 
explored, the more it would rise in estimation, and he spared neither 
trouble nor expense to establish an easy intercourse between the western 
and the eastern territory ; and soon his occupations became so numerous, 
that he found it necessary to engage a secretary. In 1784, the Society 
of the Cincinnati was formed, of which he was elected President. Its 
object was the preservation of the rights and liberties of human nature ; 
and, though not exclusively confined to military men, its greatest 
number had fought and bled in the cause ; — they were distinguished by 
their adoption of the American Eagle. 

During a long period that conflicting parties delayed the adoption of 
the Constitution, the citizens of Boston practised the greatest fidelity 



49 

it. It was then that a series of essays appeared in a New- York paper ; 
they were replete with sound arguments, f^ounded on principles of reason 
and justice, and were conducted by three talented and able writers, 
Colonel Hamilton, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Jay. The object of these 
essays was to expose real facts, real dangers, and to detect misrepresen- 
tation ; they form two volumes, under the title of " The Federalist.^' 

T^he dissatisfied state of America showed itself more and more aftei: 
the disbanding of the army, and the evil increased to an alarming height 
between the years 1783 and 1786. The right assumed by each party 
to form assemblies, in which each person expressed his own conception 
as to a form of government, created a state of confusion which can alone 
be imagined by those who have witnessed a disorganized faction, with- 
out any head to direct its movements. Governor Randolph, the sincere 
friend of America, wrote his sentiments to General Washington, in the 
hope of inducing that great man to add his influence at the meeting of 
Delegates from the separate States, about to be held at Philadelphia. 
" This gloomy prospect," said the Governor, in his letter to Washington, 
" still admits one ray of hope ; that those who began, carried on, and 
consummated the revolution, can yet rescue America from the impending 
ruin." 

" For God's sake, tell nie," said Washington, in addressing his friend 
Colonel Humphries, " what is the cause of all these commotions? Do 
they proceed from licentiousness, British influence, disseminated by the 
Tories, or real grievances, which admit of redress 1 If the latter, why 
was redress delayed until the public mind had become so much agitated i 
If the former, why are not the powers of government tried at once ? It 
is as well to be without, as not to exercise them. Commotions of this 
sort, tike snow-balls, gather strength as they roll, if there is no Opposition 
in the way to divide and crumble them." The patriot was grieved at 
the state of things ; he was surprized, and declared, that in his late, but 
short period of retreat from public life, he had no notion that his country- 
men could have acted on'such false principles, for he cotild not shut his 
eyes to the fact, that a strong party were labouring to undo what it had 
cost him and others so much to eflfect ; and that their leaders were 
desirous for a re-union with Britain. In this state of things, Governor 
Boudoin, acting by the advice of council, raised a militia of 4000 men, 
but the treasury was unable to support them, upon which the gentlemen 
of Boston supplied the means ; and this army, in defence of the common- 
wealth, began its operations under the command of the veteran General 
Lincoln, and, in a short time, and with very little bloodshedj completely 

7 



50 

overcame the insurgents. This step was followed by the Convention of 
Delegates held at Philadelphia. 

To his friend, Mr. Jay, who expressed his hopes that he who had 
done so much would not refuse his aid to extricate America from her 
present difficulties, General Washington replied : " Retired as I am from 
the world, I frankly acknowledge I cannot feel myself an unconcerned 
spectator. Yet, having happily assisted in bringing the ship into port, 
and having been fairly discharged, it is not my business to embark again 
on a sea of troubles." 

Reluctant as thfe General was to leave his retreat, he was, it may be 
said, compelled to do it, since it became evident that none but himself 
had sufficient weight, talent, and industry, to conduct the federal 
government, and to secure the union of the States. Diversity of opinions 
had brought America into imminent danger — the hero who had won her 
freedom felt it incompatible w4th his nature to see her lose it ; he 
therefore yielded the enjoyments of Mount Vernon, to enter once more 
on the great stage of public action. 

Washington joined the meeting of delegates, and found great differ- 
ences arose from the different States regarding their situation, extent, 
habits, and local interests. In their several deliberations the consolida- 
tion of their union was the chief point kept in view, as involving their 
prosperity, felicity, safety, and perhaps, their existence as a nation. On 
the 17th of September, 1787, the articles of the new Constitution was 
submitted to the approval of Congress by the President, General Wash- 
ington ; who stated the contents to be the result of a spirit of amity, and 
of mutual deference and concession on the part of the representatives of 
the several States of the new Republic. 

During General Washington's residence at Mount Vernon, the assem- 
bled Legislature of Virginia and Maryland met respecting the opening 
navigation of the Potomac and James Rivers. On that occasion the 
treasurer received instructions to subscribe a number of shares from each 
company in the name of " George Washington^ Esq., in testimony of 
the estimation in which they held his unexampled merit, in his arduous 
labours for his country. Wishing that those great works of improvement, 
springing from the. liberty which he had been instrumental to establish, 
and which he had encouraged by his patronage, might prove durable mo- 
numents of his glory, and also of the gratitude of his country J^ 

In the explanation given by the General as to the reason why he de- 
clined to accept the gift, he says : " It is really my wish to have my 
mind and my actions, which are the result of reflection, as free and inde- 



51 

pendent as the air ; that I may be more at liberty to express my senti- 
ments, and if necessary, to suggest what may [occur to me, under the 
fullest conviction that, although my judgment may be arraigned, there 
will be no suspicion that sinister motives had the smallest influence in 
the suggestion. * * When I was first called to the station 
with which I was honoured during the late conflict for our liberties, to 
the diffidence which I had so many reasons to feel in accepting it, I 
thought it my duty to join a firm resolution to shut my hand against 
every pecuniary recompense. To this resolution I have invariably ad- 
hered, and from it (if I had the inclination) I do not think myself at 
liberty now to depart." 

From his retreat at Mount Vernon, Washington saw the difficulties 
which continued to multiply in the formation of the new Republic ; he 
saw with deep interest and concern that all the obstacles proceeded from 
the operation of two great political parties — the friends and the foes to 
the measure — each using equal exertions, as interest in some, and 
honesty in others, propelled the leaders of these parties ; all of whom, by 
their petty jealousies, kept America in a ferment. At this time the 
friends of this great man were daily urging him to take the lead in the 
government of the States, and at length, a desire to extricate his country 
from the embarrassment it laboured under, and from a wish to establish 
a permanent system of policy, he resolved once more to sacrifice private 
enjoyment to public benefit, and thus replied to a letter from Lafayette ; 

" Should it really become necessary for me to fill the station in which 
your letter pre-supposes me, I have determined to go into it perfectly 
free from all engagements of every nature whatsoever. A conduct in 
conformity with this resolution would enable me, in balancing the vari- 
our pietensions of different candidates for appointments, to act with a 
sole reference to justice and the public good. I am sensible that the 
public suffrage that places a man in office should prevent him from 
being swayed in the execution of it by his private inclinations, yet he 
may assuredly, without violating his duty, be indulged in the continu- 
ance of his former attachments. 

In March, 1789, George Washington was elected President, and John 
Adams, Vice President, of the United States. On going to this honour 
the General avows his feelings are those of a criminal going to execu- 
tion ; so unwilling was he to quit the joys of retirement for an ocean of 
difficulties. " Integrity and firmness," he continued, in a letter to General 
Knox, " are all I can promise ; these, ba the voyage long or short, shall 
never forsake me, although I may be deserted by all men ; for of the 



' 52 

ponsolations which are to be derived from thesp, under my circumstances, 
the world cannot deprive me.'" 

On the 16th of April, 1789, he wrote in his diary, " About ten o'clock 
I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity, 
and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations 
than I have words to express, set out foe New- York — with the best 
dispositions to render service to my country, in obedience to its call, but 
with less hope of answering its expectations." 

Triumphal arches were erected on the road, and every demonstration 
of honour, respect, and affection, were offered to him ; each town 
through which he passed vied with the other in these marks of affec- 
tion. At Trenton, in particular, the female sex prepared their tribute of 
deep gratitude in remembrance of their happy deliverance from the 
enemy twelve years before. Over the creek was a bridge, on which 
was erected a triumphal arch, supported by thirteen pillars, ornamented 
with laurels and flowers, with these words on the central arch : — 
" The Defender of the Mothers will be the Protector of the Daughters.'" 

Here a procession of females met him singing the following stanzas : 

Welcome, mighty chief, once more, 
Welcome to this grateful shore ; 
Now, no mercenary foe, aims again the fatal blow. 

Aims at thee the fatal blow. 

Virgins fair and matrons grave, 
Those thy conquering arms did save 
Build for thee triumphal bowers ; strew, ye fair, his way with flowers ; 
Strew your Hero's way with flowers. 

On quitting New-Jersey, the President was met by a Committee from 
Congress, that accompanied him to New-York, for which city he em- 
barked in a barge manned by thirteen branch pilots, and arrived there 
on the 23rd of April ; and was inaugurated on the 30th. 

Soon after the government came into operation, the newly appointed 
office of President caused some suspicion and doubts, relative to the 
regal manners, as they were called, of those who were at the head of the 
government. Upon this being noticed to General Washington, he 
replied, that he should like to know the public opinion of men and mea- 
sures, and of none more than of what related to himself ; for, he con- 
tinued, " the man who means to commit no wrong will never be guilty 
of enormities ; consequently, can never be unwilling to learn what are 
ascribed to him as foibles. If they are really such, the knowledge of 
them in a well disposed mind will go half way towards a reform. If 
Jfeey^are not errors, he can explairi and justify his actions." 



53 

Much of the time during the first session was occupied in preliminary 
arrangements respecting the government, and concerting measures of a 
public nature. 

The commencement of the 2cl session, in January 1790, found the party 
who opposed government exercising the same fluctuations of weakness 
and power, as are common in all bodies which are formed merely on the 
principle of self-interest; and which must end in the destruction of that 
which proves the least powerful, Washington never deviated from the 
course that his conscience dictated to be just ; his love of method caused 
a uniformity in his habits, which prevented the smallest appearance of 
inconsistency throughout his conduct. He laid down rules for himself 
which he thought best suited to the high station he filled ; and finding 
that occasional visits intruded too much on his time, he fixed a period 
to receive calls ; this was from three o'clock to four every Tuesday, and 
he was present at Mrs. Washington's tea-parties on Friday evenings. 
These arrangements, however, were condemned as bearing too much 
resemblarice to regal institutions ; so jealous was the opposition party 
lest the government might acquire too great an influence. Never was 
a man so calculated as Washington to be at the head of the aflfairs of 
America at that period. His private fortune enabled him to resign every 
pecuniary compensation, his mind was above the influence of popular 
favour ; he devoted his whole time to the service of the state, and he 
acted under a conscientious observance of what was due to God, to him^ 
self, and to his country. 

In March, 1793, Washington was elected a second time to fill the 
President's chair, and during that time his labours to benefit America 
were incessant. He concluded a treaty of peace between the States 
and Algiers ; another treaty with Spain respecting navigation ; and 
induced Great Britain to sign the agreement to withdraw their troops 
from all places within the boundary lines, as assigned in their general 
treaty. Such^was the position of the United States, that on the 8th of 
December, 1795, the President, Washington, called forth the joyful 
congratulations of the member of Congress, for the many and extraor- 
dinary blessings they enjoyed ;■ among them he enumerated the mutual 
satisfaction experienced in their foreign alliances. In treating on their 
several enjoyments, he contrasted the state of their favoured country with 
that of England, then suffering under the penalties of war, bloodshed, and 
an additional weight of taxation ; whilst our agriculture, commerce, and 
manufactures, prosper beyond former precedent. As the period of the 
presidency drew near its close, Washington thought he saw tbe fit time 



54 

for returning to his beloved retirement, which he had quitted only to 
render what service he could to his country. America seemed now to 
be fixed in her policy, and other circumstances rendered it not deficient 
in patriotism to resign an office, which increasing years made it desir- 
able to quit. 

The hold which Washington had of the affections of the Americans 
generallij, made them hope that he would again fill the chair as chief 
magistrate ; but it was the design, as it had long been the wish of this 
truly great man, to resign that seat, and for which event he prepared a 
valedictory address, in which the great leading feature, the principle 
towards which he drew their attention the most frequently, and with the 
greatest degree of earnestness, was unity of government. In delineating 
the baneful effects of party spirit, Washington observes, — 

" This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its 
root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under dif- 
ferent shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or 
repressed ; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest 
rankness, and is truly their worst enemy." 

" The Union of the States," he says, " is a main pillar in the edifice of 
your independence, — the support of your tranquillity at home, — your 
peace abroad, — of your safety, — of your prosperity, — of that very liberty 
which you so highly prize. As this is the point in your political 
fortress, against which the batteries of internal and external enemies 
will be constantly and actively (though covertly and insidiously) 
directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the 
immense value of yoir national union to your collective and individual 
happiness; — that you should regard it as the palladium of your political 
safety and prosperity, — watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety, 
— discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in 
any event be abandoned, — and indignantly frowning upon the first 
dawning of any attempt to alienate any portion of your country from the 
rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together its various 
parts." 

On Washington's retirement from the office of President, in Decem- 
ber, 1796, the merchants of Philadelphia gave a splendid banquet, to 
which he was invited, and was met by the general officers in the late 
army, the heads of departments, foreign ministers, and other dis- 
tinguished persons. 

Numerous were the calumnies by which the President's character 
was aspersed. To crown their perfidy, his enemies said he had drawn 



55 

out of the treasury for his private use, — an impeachment was publicly 
suggested. From an investigation into the treasury accounts, it ap- 
peared that the President had never touclied any part, for that the 
whole was received and disbursed by the gentleman who superintended 
the expenses of his household. 

It had been the wish of France, even at the time her assistance to 
America led to a widely different opinion, that she might not establish 
an independent constitution, so that, after the death of Louis the Six- 
teenth, the commissioner appointed by that monarch was recalled, and 
in his place came Citizen Genet, a vain, presumptuous man, who 
allowed himself to be misled by the party that opposed the American 
government, and acted most offensively towards it. Setting aside all 
observance of respect, he exchanged the character of a diplomatist for 
that of an angry and violent individual. The President he set at defi- 
ance. The latter circumstance could not influence the President, who 
on one occasion only noticed the insults offered to administration. In a 
letter to General Lee, Governor of Virginia, dated July 21st, 1793, 
Washington concluded the subject by saying, 

" For the result, as it respects myself, I care not. I have a conso- 
lation within, of which no earthly efforts can deprive me, and that is, 
that neither ambitious, nor interested motives, have influenced my con- 
duct. The arrows of malevolence, therefore, however barbed and 
pointed, can never reach my most valuable part ; though, whilst lam 
up as a mark^ they will be continually aimed at me." 

The conduct of Genet required that he should be recalled. Mr. 
Adams was elected President, 4th March, 1797, and General Wash- 
ington retired to his seat at Mount Vernon, where he once more 
resumed his favourite occupations, among which was the correspond- 
ence he kept up with a few select friends. In the latter number he 
was always pleased with the communications of Sir John Sinclair, on 
his favourite science of agriculture. 

It was the ardent wish of Washington that nothing might occur to 
call him again into public life. Though his time was spent in rural 
pursuits, his wishes were ever strongly bent on the welfare of his 
country, he had delivered to Congress all the papers relating to the 
subject of the differences which subsisted between the United States and 
the Republic of France; and felt the justice of the President Adams' 
recommendation to the Americans, that they ought to use every caution 
not to be drawn into an unnecessary war ; at the same time, that they 
should hold themselves prepared for self-defence. Nor was it long be- 



56 

fore this venerable hero was again required to give his serrices, as corri- 
tnander of the American army. Mr. Adnms had endeavoured to bring 
the French to an amicable adjustment, and sent envoys to Paris for 
that purpose, but they were not received by the Directory ; and in their 
private interviews with M. Talleyrand and his agents, (one of whom 
was a lady,) the only object seemed money, peace might have been 
purchased. The interest of the minister too was fixed at a high price, 
in the dishonourable way of a private douceur. The Americans were 
plain dealers, and spurned the conditions with contempt, — a war there- 
fore ensued. On the 17th of July, 1798, Washington received the 
appointment of Lieutenant- General and Commander-in-Chief of the 
army in the service of the United States. Soon after the appointment 
he wrote the following letter to Dr. James Anderson : — 

" December \{)th, 179S. 

" I little imagined when I took my last leave of public life, and re- 
tired to the shades of my vine and fig-tree, that any event would arise 
in my day that would bring me again on a public theatre ; but the un- 
just, ambitious, and intoxicated conduct of France towards these tJnited 
States has been, and continues to be such, that they must be opposed by a 
firm and manly resistance, or we shall not only hazard the subjugation 
of our governmerit, but the independence of our nation also : both being 
evidently struck at by a lawless, domineering power, who respects no 
rights, and is restrained by no treaties when it is found inconvenient to( 
observe them. •*♦**» 

* When every thing sacred and dear to freemen is threat- 

ened, I could not, consistent with the principles which have actuated 
me through life, remain an idle spectator, and refuse to obey the call of 
my country, to head its armies for defence ; and, therefore, have pledged 
myself to come forward whenever the exigency shall require it. 

" With what sensations, at my time of life, (now turned of sixty-six,) 
without ambition or interest to stimulate me thereto, I shall relinquish 
the peaceful walks to which I had retired, and in the shades of which I 
had fondly hoped to have spent the remnant of a life worn down with 
cares in contemplation on the pust, and in (the enjoyment of) scenes 
present and to come, of rural growth, let others, and especially those who 
are best acquainted with my ways of thinking, decide ; while I, believing 
that man was not designed by Providence to live for himself alone, shall 
prepare for the worst that can happen." 

General Washington lived but a very short period after his last retire- 
ment, at the conclusion of the short war with France. He died at 



57 

Mount Vernon, after a short illness, brought on by a cold, on the 14th 
of December, 1799, aged sixty -eight. His corpse lay in state in the 
portico of Mount Vernon. On the ornament at the head of the coffin 
was inscribed, Surge ad Judicium ; about the middle of it, Gloria 
Deo; and, on the silver plate, *' General George Washington, de- 
parted THIS LIFE ON THE 14tH DECEMBER, 1799, ^T. 68. The 

mortal remains of the Patriot were interred in a plain subterraneous 
vault, near the Potomac River, and in the front of the mansion of Mount 
Vernon, on the 18th of December. 

In the General's Will, which is in his own writing, he desires that 
his debts, though few, should be all paid. And next requires, with par- 
ticular earnestness that, at the death of his wife, all the slaves over 
which he had a right should be emancipated ; and provided for the aged 
and the infants among them by requiring, that all who came under the 
heads of infirmity and infancy should be clothed and fed by his heirs, 
until the latter class acquired the age of manhood ; and forbade the sale 
or the transportation of any such beyond the limits of the common- 
wealth. 

The sum of four thousand dollars was assigned to the Academy in 
Alexandria, for the support of a free school annexed to it, fot educating 
orphan and poor children. The shares that the General held in the 
Potomac River Company, he left to found a University in which to 
educate youth in polite literature. 

To the Earl of Buchan he re-committed the box made out of the oak 
that sheltered the great Sir William Wallace after the battle of Fal- 
kirk ; and left Dr. Franklin's gold-headed cane to his brother, Charles 
Washington. After bequeathing several swords to individuals, he 
says, "These are accompanied with an injunction not tounsheath them 
for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self-defence, or in de- 
fence of their country and its rights j'and, in the latter case, to keep 
them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands to the 
relinquishment thereof." 

He lastly desired to be interred privately, without parade or funeral 
oration. 

Wild, in his '♦ Travels in America," states that he saw this great 
man when in his sixty-fourth year, and that when not made the best of 
by exterior pains, he appeared older. His stature was about five feet 
eleven inches ; his limbs well shaped and muscular. The same writer 
observes, that his mind was not disposed to form intimacies, and that 
his conversation was more free and unreserved at a levee, than at a 
private interview. 



68 

Chateaubriand, who saw General Washington in the year 1791, has 
this notice of him : " He was a man of tall stature, with a calm and 
cold, rather than noble air. I passed before him as the most unknown 
of beings. He was in all his glory ; I in the depth of my obscurity ; 
happy, however, that his looks were cast upon me ! I have felt myself 
warmed for it all the rest of my life." 

Mr. Stewart, the artist, remarked, when taking the General's por- 
JLrait, that. the sockets of the eyes were larger, and the upper part of the 
r.ose broader, than he had met with in any other countenance; and 
gave it as his opinion, that if the hero had been born in the forests, he 
would have been the fiercest man among the human race. They 
who knew Washington best, said that he was of a fierce and irritable 
disposition, but that his excellent judgment, and the self-command 
which he constantly exercised, reformed him into a moderator. Virtue 
rendered him patient, discerning, and considerate ; and all his actions 
were regulated by the principle of justice, so that even the softening 
influences of philanthropy never prevailed over the rectitude of his mind. 
To this pre-eminence of character may be added a trait of disinterested- 
ness that may appear surprising to statesmen in the nineteenth century 
— that, during the period that General Washington filled the office of 
President of the United States of America, he did not appoint one of his 
relatives to any post of trust and emoluments 



61 

of which to the board, I shall lely more on your goodness than on any 
expression of mine, to render it acceptable." The conclusion of this 
letter was requested by, and given to a gentleman, who was particularly 
desirous to have in his possession the signature of the illustrious 
Washington. * 

Philadelphia, 20th February, 1796. 
Sir : * * * " Doubts having arisen, from peculiar calls 
on the Treasurj^ of this country for money, (occasioned by the expenses 
of our wars with the Indians — the redemption of our captives at Algiers, 
obtaining peace with that Regency and Morocco — together with other 
demands in addition to the ordinary expenditures of government,) that 
funds with difficulty would be provided to answer them, without imposing 
additional taxes, a measure wished to be avoided, I was restrained (after 
consulting one or two influential members of the legislature) from intro- 
ducing your plan for a contribution ; and, under these circumstances, I 
avoided communicating the 'Extracts from the Minutes of Proceedings of 
the Board of Agriculture.' I wish my own engagements would allow me 
time to attend more than I do to these useful and agreeable pursuits ; but 
having been absent from what I consider my proper home, (except on 
short occasional visits,) for more than seven years ; and having entered 
into my 65th year, a period which requires tranquillity and ease, I have 
come to the determination to lease the farms of my Mount Vernon 
estate, except the mansion house farm, and a grazing one three miles 
off, which I shall retain in my own occupation, for amusement, whilst 
life and health is dispensed to mc." This letter concludes thus : " I 
feel ashamed at having employed so much time in matters interesting 
to myself only. # * * ^^^ ^^^ 

Your most obedient and obliged servant, 

G. WASHINGTON. 



Philadelphia, 12th June, 1796. 
A letter bearing this date, addressed to Sir J. Sinclair, begins thus : — 
" Sir, — A long and interesting session of Congjess, which did not close 
until the first day of this month, and the laws which required to be 
carried into execution promptly, will, I am persuaded, be admitted as a 
reasonable excuse for my not writing to you since the 20th of February." 
The remainder of the letter contains copious remarks regarding 
agriculture, and ends with his usual signature, 

G. WASHINGTON. 

* Note in the British Museum, dated London, 10th Febniaiy, 1800. 



62 

Philadelphia, 6th March, 1797. 
^j/^__On the 11th of December, I wrote you a long letter, and 
intended, before the close of the last session of Congress, to have ad- 
dressed you again ; but oppressed as I was with the various occurrences 
incident thereto, especially in the latter part of it, it has not been in my 
power to do so during its continuance; and now, the arrangements 
necessary to my departure from this city for a more tranquil theatre, 
and for the indulgence of rural pursuits, will oblige me to suspend my 
purpose until I am fixed at Mount Vernon, where I expect soon to be ; 
having resigned the chair of government to Mr. John Adams, on 
Friday last, the day on which 1 completed my second four years* 
administration. 

I am sorry to add, that nothing ^na^ in Congress has been decided 
respecting the institution of a national board of agriculture. * * • 
I think it highly probable that next session will bring this matter to 
maturity. 

With the highest esteem and respect, 

I have the honor, &c. &c. 

G. WASHINGTON. 



Mount Vernon, 15th July, 1797. 
In this letter to Sir John Sinclair, General Washington acknowledges 
the receipt of letters from him and Lord Hawke — the latter introductory 
to the visit of Dr. Scandella, whom he pronounces to be a sensible and 
well-informed man. The remaining part treats only on agriculture, and 
which he ends, as usual, 
To Sir John Sine/air. GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



Mount Vernon, 6th Nov. 1797. 
Acknowledges a letter by the hand of Thomas Macdonald, Esq. and a 
note by General Kosciusko. In this it is stated that the price of land in 
America had fallen on two accounts — the depredations committed by the 
French, and reduction in the price of their home produce. These to- 
gether, render cash a scarce article: This letter concludes as follows ; 
With great respect, and the highest esteem and regard, I have the honor 
to be, Sir, 

Your most obedient and obliged. 

Humble Servant, ^ 
To Sir John Sinclair. G. WASHINGTON." 



59 



€oYtes]iimtience bettoeen Crencrsl WSasjflnston arCU Skfv Joljn Sfnclafv; 

The following' letters, part of a correspondence carried on between General 
Washington and Sir John Sinclair, are copied from the original letters, in 
the handtoriiing of General Washington, and which are preserved with 
the greatest care in the Royal British Museum. . 

Sir: Philadelphia, October 20, 1792. 

I have received your letter of the 18th of May, enclosing the pamphlet 
and papers, which you had the goodness to send me. 

While I beg your acceptance of my acknowledgments for the polite 
mark of attention in transmitting these things to me, I flatter myself you 
will be assured that I consider the subject therein recommended as 
highly important to society, whose best interests I hope will be promoted 
by a proper investigation of them, and the happiness of mankind ad- 
vanced thereby. 

I have to regret that the duties, of my public station do not allow me 
to pay that attention to agriculture and the objects attached to it, (which 
have ever been my favorite pursuit,) that I could wish; but I will 
put your queries respecting sheep into the hands of such gentlemen ag 
I think most likely to attend to them, and answer them satisfactorily. 
I must, however, observe, that no important information on the subject 
can be expected from this country, where we have been so little in the 
habit of attending either to the breed or improvement of our stock. 
With great respect and esteem, I have the honor to be, Sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 
Sir John Sinclair. G. WASHINGTON. 



In a letter to Sir John Sinclair, dated 20th July, 1794, are the follow- 
ing passages :— 

" I have read, with peculiar pleasure and approbation, the work you 
patronise. • * * Such a general view of the agriculture 
in the several counties of Great Britain, is extremely interesting, and 
cannot fail of being very beneficial to the agricultural concerns of your 
country, and to those of every other wherein they are read, and must 
entitle you to their warmest thanks for having set such a plan on foot. 



60 

I am so much pleased with the plan and execution myself, as to pray 
you to have the goodness to direct your bookseller to continue to send 
them to me. # • * When the whole are received, I will 

promote, as far as in mc lays, the reprinting of them here. I know of no 
pursuit in which more real and important service can be rendered to any 
country, than by improving its agriculture, its breed of useful animals, and 
other branches of a husbandman's cares. Commons, Tithes, Tenantry, 
(of which we feel nothing in this country,) are in the list of impedi- 
ments, I perceive, to perfection in English farming ; — and taxes are 
heavy deductions from the profit thereof. Of these we have none, or so 
light, as hardly to be felt. Your system of agriculture, it must be con- 
fessed, is in a still superior, and of course much more expensive state, than 
ours ; but when the balance at the end of the year is struck, by deducting 
the taxes, poor-rales, and incidental charges of everj^ kind, from the 
produce of the land in the two countries, no doubt can remain in which 
scale il is to be found. 

It will be some time, I fear, before an Agricultural Society, with 
congressional aids, will be established here; we must walk, as other 
countries have done, before we can run : smaller societies must prepare 
the way for greater ; but with the light before us, I hope we shall not 
be so slow in maturation as older nations have been. After the peace 
of Paris, in 1783, and my return to the occupations of a farmer, I paid 
particular attention to my breed of sheep ; — at the shearing of 1789, the 
fleeces yielded me the average quantity' of 5^1bs ; when called again 
from my home, my fleeces yielded me not more than 2jlbs. 

The sample you were so obliging as to put into the hands of Mr. 
Lear, for me, of a Scotch fabric, is extremely elegant, and 1 pray you to 
accept my thanks for it. ♦ * * Both Mr. Adams and 
Mr. Jefferson had the perusal of the papers which accompanied your 
note of the 11th of September. 

With great respect and esteem, I have the honor to be, Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
To Sir John Sinclair. G.WASHINGTON. 



Philadelphia, lOth July, 1795. 
In this letter, General Washington thanks Sir John Sinclair, to use 
his own words : " for the diploma, (received by the hands of Mr. Jay,) 
admitting me a foreign honorary member of the board of agriculture." 
He continues : " for this testimony of the attention of that body, and for 
the honor it has conferred on me, I have a high sense; in communication 




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